


Places, Everyone!

by orphan_account



Category: Twilight
Genre: F/M, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-01-31
Updated: 2011-01-31
Packaged: 2017-10-15 06:36:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 50,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/158040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to FROM THE WINGS, this is the story of Bella's plan to reunite her family and eliminate the "threat" of disbanding for the rest of their futures. All canon pairings. AU. Mystery/Suspense.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Year  2018

**Author's Note:**

> **  
> _A/N: As I may have mentioned at the end of From the Wings, I did have a few ideas as to how a sequel to that story could go... And so it has! With my thanks to Katmom and Bells. Just Bells., who won the opportunity of choosing the pairings for this first chapter of the sequel at auction, I bring you part two in this impromptu trilogy: Places, Everyone!_   
> **

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](http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/975j4RK4wQ_JTUHlhsPNqSXkLgrtxqHHBv4P-vobVoM?feat=embedwebsite)

**  
_It is a mystery. It has all canon pairings. Beyond that...you'll just have to read and find out what is happening. All the chapters will be in the voices of male characters (Cullen men and others)._   
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_Thanks for reading! ~ LJ_   
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 **1: First Year - 2018**

 **Edward –**

Bella's scream echoed throughout the empty rooms and corridors of our home in Hanover.

I had to grin with sheer male pride into her heavy-lidded eyes. "I miss the family," I murmured, bringing her down gently from her sound-accented pleasure, "but you're never this uninhibited when they're all at home." My wife's shield protected so much of herself and she couldn't seem to relax any other part of her interactive existence with the rest of the family. Our private discussions were whispered or held out of the hearing range and well into the surrounding woodland. If it were immediate and serious, she worked to relax her mental shield and bring me into her mind so she could express her opinion to me in utter confidentiality. Our intimate life together was filled with near-silent passion...while all of Carlisle's family lived under one roof.

It had been a month since the family had dispersed at the Volturi's "suggestion" and I was, frankly, enjoying the benefits of being once again without them. Bella and I hadn't been this alone together since before her change, when I was wooing her in the Amazonian rain forest. And now, of course, that kind of uncertainty wasn't even something I gave a thought to since she was mine by hand and by name. Some mornings, as we drove to class at Dartmouth where we were both working on Masters degrees – hers in Comparative Literature, mine in Engineering – I was awestruck that she _was_ mine. Just as I was hers. Decades I had waited without meeting my mate. Then I met her and left her – ridiculous decision – and she had chosen me at last. Again. I had won her _twice_. Her eyes were no longer mysterious dark pools as they had been when I had met her many years ago; they shone amber brown these days as I lost myself in them. The mystery was still there, though – still tantalizing, still encouraging me to discover all of her.

There was no woman on earth, I believed, as seductive as Bella Swan Cullen.

We rose, showered and dressed for school, to drive under the shade of the historic trees of Hanover. "I got an email from Carlisle," Bella murmured, her eyes closed as she leaned against the gray leather headrest in my Mercedes.

"What did he say?" I inquired, navigating around a yellow Volkswagen Classic Beetle as we approached the parking lot. We parked at some distance from the buildings, but there was a roundabout route from the main buildings through copses of trees to the rear of this lot so it was our preferred location. I turned in my seat and waited for Bella to answer.

Still silent, I knew she reveled in her self-concealing abilities, even though they maddened me on occasion. I stroked her cheek with the back of my fingers and she smiled a little. "He sent me some things to consider regarding school and my coursework."

Surprise jolted through me, lifting my eyebrows high into my stone forehead. "Why would he do that?"

My wife grinned at me; the sight dazzled my eyes. "To be helpful? Is it so hard to believe, Edward, that Carlisle would take an interest in my graduate education? _Jasper's_ helped me and you never thought that was a problem."

I had noted that and nodded as I got out of the car, walked around and opened her door at an entirely human speed. "And?" My voice was pitched low and fast, so that to any nearby students, we would appear to be having a quiet conversation suitable for a young couple still very obviously in love. "I had noticed it, yes. Carlisle said that he was leaving his library with you for your studies."

"Of course. And they've been _very_ helpful."

She said nothing more, but her expression told me that she trusted no one. I felt an ache deep in my chest. "Bella," I murmured, taking her left hand in my right as we strode with slow paces. "Please, love. What is it?"

"I can't tell you." Her eyes begged for my forgiveness but she didn't even open her mind to me to share what was obviously in there. I grimaced and looked away.

The notion of Carlisle and Bella having secrets from me did not sit well. I tried to push my concern aside, but vowed to talk to my sire soon.

 **E &B E&B E&B**

"New Year's Eve in New York City," Emmett laughingly announced over the webcam. "We'll all be there!" My brother winked at the camera, but there was a tension about his face. His signature dimples – he had flashed them at enough girls over the decades for them to be part of his facial landscape – were in evidence, but only barely. "Rose is sure shopping for a new wardrobe."

"How's Atlanta?"

"Great! It's weird, because it's been pretty warm so far this winter, but we're looking forward to snow in New York."

I leaned back in my chair and studied Emmett as he regarded me. His brow furrowed, as did mine. Unguarded speech had been difficult for all of us over the months, since Jasper had found that someone was, indeed, hacking almost invisibly into our lines of communication. I blew out a breath and decided to point out the looming black elephant in the room. "Have you heard from Italy?"

In an entirely human gesture – they become habitual over time – Emmett rubbed at the back of his neck. "We got a Christmas card, can you believe? What was up with that, Edward, huh?"

"Did it look like this?" I asked, reaching out with my right hand to where the small stack of cards was piled on the smooth oak desk. The card was a reproduction of a fourteenth century nativity representation and I held it up to the webcam.

My brother nodded before leaning out of the pick-up range on his own camera. "Here's ours."

The pictures were indeed the same. Apparently, the Volturi bought a boxed set. "Does yours say,

 _O_   
_è_   
_mutato in ciel novo consiglio,_

 _Son le leggi d'abisso così rotte?_

written with a quill pen?"

"No," Emmett said with a wicked light in his eye. "I think the good Aro is unaware that I'm not as dumb as I look. He wrote to us in _English_ : _The laws of the Abyss, are they broken? Or is there changed in heaven some council new?_ "

I had to chuckle, even at the ominous words. "I guess he didn't do as thorough a background check on you as he could have. Or he doesn't realize that when you got your Physics degree, you still had to learn two languages."

"Just ask Rosalie – I'm good with tongues." He wiggled his brows in the old, playful manner and my inner tension eased somewhat. Then, he sobered. "So, why do you think the Italians are quoting _The Divine Comedy_?"

I was impressed. As well as I knew Emmett, I didn't know he read Alighieri. "I don't know, but I do think it's significant that they chose the _Purgatory_ section over _Inferno_ or _Paradise_. It's a warning." Hell, what was it that Carlisle was communicating with Bella about? That _had_ to do with this. "I'm thinking they're worried about the fact that we communicate as often as we do."

Emmett growled loudly enough for me to hear him. "What the hell is their problem? We're a _family_. Talking is what families do!"

"They're only a coven, my brother. I think they've forgotten about what a family means."

His eyes narrowed. "Yeah, well. Someday, they're gonna get schooled."

A sultry alto bell tone floated lovingly into the room. "Edward?"

My brother beat me to it. "Hey, Little Sis! How's it goin'?"

Bella's scent followed her voice, and her body appeared immediately thereafter, as she draped herself over my shoulders so that her hair slipped deliciously down my chest. I inhaled her unique scent: a fresh blend of freesia and lilac and sunshine. "Em! How's my favorite physics professor?"

"You wish!"

"I totally do!"

While Bella and Emmett caught up, I slipped away to call Carlisle. In order to do so away from Bella's hearing, I slipped out the sliding glass door at the rear of the first floor of our house. We had the trappings, still, of the life of an extended family as we lived here on the outskirts of Hanover. There was the wooden deck, painted red with lattice work around the perimeter. In the spring, summer and autumn, Adirondack chairs were practically a staple in this neighborhood, so we had them, too. But now, with only a week to go before Christmas, we had no furniture on the deck. Apparently bundled against the cold in an unneeded coat, heavy jeans and hiking boots, I leaned against the house. Carefully. I didn't wish to dent the siding. All of this was to adequately maintain our cover. On occasion, one of us would pretend to smoke, too. It gave another illusion of humanity here in this college town. I whipped out my cell phone and punched in Carlisle's number.

"Edward!" Carlisle's voice came through as clearly as always. His accent seemed a tad more pronounced than it had when he'd lived with us. "How are you?"

"Doing well, thank you. Just finished finals for the term. Did our Italian friends send you a Christmas card as well?"

There was an instant of silence. "They did, yes. Perhaps we should all bring our cards along with us to New York. We do plan on being there, Esme and I."

"We'll do that. How's your trip?"

We fell into a surface discussion of the night life to be had on the African continent. "Nice not to have to worry about the insects, as our occasional traveling companions do."

I had to chuckle at that. "Indeed." A full century of living as a vampire and some things still could make me laugh.

"How are your studies going, Edward? And Bella's?"

The reminder sent my good humor away. "Fine," I said flatly, using my least-favorite word of Bella's. I hated when she answered me with that word – it always meant anything but fine. Granted, it was a word she used but rarely in these past years, but I would never forget it. "She has been most grateful," I went on, layering the adjective with as much annoyance as I felt in the matter "for your assistance with her literary studies. She's been most appreciative." I was growling, deep in my chest. Growling! At Carlisle!

Shaking off that strange, territorial reaction I inhaled strongly through my nose. "I imagine she can convey those thanks in person when we see you in New York." I would find his mind, there. I _would_ get to the bottom of this. The problem was not insurmountable – it just required patience. I had patience.

"Excellent, son," my father agreed. "We look forward to it."

There followed an assurance that all travel arrangements had been seen to by Alice and Jasper and we would have our Cullen Family Reunion and Holiday Party on New Year's Eve.

* * *

 **Jasper –**

One would think, after one hundred and seventy-five years, that I would have seen and heard almost everything that can be seen and heard. Carlisle and I have, on occasion, compared notes on societal and cultural experiences. His centuries of peace have contrasted interestingly with my many decades of battle, but there is much that we have seen that stays the same in human nature.

Nothing out there compares to New York City on New Year's Eve. Especially not in the company of my wife.

Of course, we had a full-floor apartment on Fifth Avenue. The residence went from Fifth to Madison Avenues. It was such a relief for me, being alone with Alice. The floor below us was owned by a Japanese consortium and was, as such, rarely occupied. The floor above us was a summer residence only. The family had three such homes and they traveled. New York in winter was not where they wanted to be. The building's newsletter said that the residents were on Marco Island, Florida. So here in our place, the only emotions I had to contend with were mine and my wife's.

I couldn't describe the peace adequately. Of course, Alice and I had had our times away from the rest of the family over the years, but these "vacations" were often short-term. Living away from the Cullens for months at a time had me wallowing in the quietude of an unbattered spirit. I hated to leave, to go hunting or anything. As a matter of fact, I generally only left _to_ hunt. Otherwise, I monitored the financial markets on the internet and worked on a book. A novel. Emmett would break a table when he heard I was going to encourage his wife to do the same.

I felt Alice before she keyed open the lock to our home. The swirls of passion, delight, anticipation were edged with the darker hues of trepidation. I swore silently to myself. _What the hell is she seeing?_ "Alice?"

"Oh! Jazz, I found the most beautiful pair of stockings today. Remember seams?"

I had to grin as her tiny body was self-propelled into my embrace. "Stocking seams, I'm guessin'? I do remember, ma'am," I assured her with an extended drawl. She loved it when I did that. I flipped through the images in my mind of my Alice wearing silk stockings with their precise seams flirting with me up her calves and the backs of her knees...

Alice giggled. "I can see that you do. Well, I found some for all of us ladies for the party. Now, we'll have to arrange for a hunt."

"Taken care of, sweetheart, as you are well aware." I was her go-to man for logistics.

"Good, because you know Emmett will be here in an hour." She dashed a glance down the pale wooden floor and the smooth white lines of the walls. We had pictures on display. Bella and Edward's wedding, some taken when we were all together at Dartmouth, Carlisle and Esme's eightieth anniversary – not that the number "80" was anywhere in the image. Alice had insisted on some of the two of us as well.

"I'll be having colleagues over, Jazz, and it'd look weird not to have a collage or something of us. Come on, it'll be fun!"

Guessing that she had seen everything down to the way I held her hand in one of the shots, I had agreed, though the photographs made me uncomfortable. I felt so _exposed_ in them. Alice didn't mind my scars, but I still did.

In every other respect, our New York home was comfortable for us. Knowing we had no intention of staying very long, Alice had managed to rein herself in on the decorating while concentrating her manic energies on her designing. She had the library in our home, with its corner windows and airy dimensions, while I claimed the study with its built-in shelving and insulated walls.

I would be sad to leave this place and, yes, I was indeed a bit reluctant even to have it intruded upon by family.

 **J &A J&A J&A**

"Hi, Jazz!"

I welcomed my little sister with a heartfelt grin as she pressed a wrapped gift into my hands. "Bella, good to see you." _Great not to have to feel you, too_ , I added only to myself. Edward caught that thought and slanted a smile in my direction before embracing Esme. As Bella pushed the gilt-wrapped gift more firmly into my midsection, I cocked a brow at her. "What, did I forget to get you a present, too?" Bella still disliked receiving gifts, though Edward had reported some progress in that department.

"Yes! You did! Read the note!" she whispered, her voice barely reaching my ears. Edward didn't even hear her – his emotions never fluctuated with curiosity or determination in our direction. I felt a vague sort of pressure in the center of my forehead that extended to about the middle of my brain as I flipped the slip of paper open with two fingers under Bella's eager eyes.

 _J -_

 _Mask your thoughts, Mr. Strategist. Don't_   
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block   
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_them - he'll grow suspicious._

 _I am conducting an experiment tonight. Please allow me to shield you from everyone's emotions this evening. I am working on my gift._

 _Please?_

 _-B_

Because it wouldn't hurt, I immediately threw my foremost thoughts to the hunting grounds I would be guiding the family through the following evening. While I did so, I eyed Bella narrowly, wondering what she was up to, working in such a covert manner. "Why?" I mouthed at her.

"Practicing," she mouthed back.

I rolled my eyes, and took the gift with its tag of _Do Not Open Until the New Year_ on it back to the master bedroom. Curiosity, of course, grabbed me by my throat and I had to remind myself that whatever was in here was in here for a reason. I couldn't feel Bella. Edward couldn't hear her. The Volturi were tapping our electronic communications. _She wants to block my gift for the evening?_

"Bella? What the hell are you doing, girl?" I muttered. Fortunately, enough walls and insulation separated me from the rest of the family so that no one responded. Not even Bella.

With all the force of habit, I extended my awareness out, to make sure no one heard me and to check on Alice and Edward – I couldn't believe Bella had managed to be as sneaky as all that – and found _nothing_.

No sensations. I was alone with my own emotions. It felt as if I were blindfolded with lead and it made me uneasy, suddenly, so that I ran lightly from the room. My footsteps barely seemed to hit the herringboned floor as I jogged through the smooth halls, past the kitchen and into the long narrow living room that fronted on Fifth Avenue. Voices bounced happily off the walls and floors, echoing with strange resonances in the occasional art niche and sliding softly under the ceiling. We are a voluble family and we haven't been in company with one another for months.

It was eerie. I could hear everything, of course, but feel nothing but my own discomfort. There was Alice, all but vibrating as she, Esme and Rosalie discussed the photograph montage on the wall over the sofas. Yes, there were _two_ and they were upholstered in butter-soft brown leather – my choice – and spruced up with tasseled pillows and small blankets – Alice's wish. My wife and sisters (I never could think of Esme as a maternal figure, though she did try hard to be one) occupied one while Carlisle and Edward were on the other. Emmett was in the coordinating club chair with his legs outstretched, reading from a Kindle e-book Reader. I heard the faint click with each turn of an electronic page.

It was Edward that had my curiosity skyrocketing.

"I just don't understand why the big interest in comparative lit all of a sudden, Carlisle." The leader of the family leaned into the yielding sofa cushion and offered a minute shrug while I pretended to eye the increasingly populated avenue below. Edward spoke again after a moment. "No, she's not hiding any of the emails from any of you. I just – It's just a feeling, Carlisle." Pause. "No, of course I trust her. I've never had a reason not to, really."

I know that Edward's conversation was being overheard, but only Bella was reacting. If she could have blushed, I believe she would have. Her facial expression tightened as she laced her fingers firmly together. She was listening to Edward, blocking my gift, and still trying to be mentally present while Alice waxed rhapsodic on the value of black and white photography as a contemporary art form in wardrobe designing.

With a grin, I crossed the room to kiss my wife on her inky black hair. "Love you," I murmured.

"You too, Jazz!" She blinked and turned her upturned face so that our noses brushed. "Hm. When are you taking me to Italy?"

All conversations stopped.

 **J &A J&A J&A**

It wasn't until everyone had left us alone, two days into 2019, that I opened the box. I had a sense from Bella that this was a private gift. Sure enough, on top there was a set of lingerie for Alice that made me smile and made my wife squeal with delight. She immediately dashed off to our closet to try it on.

And I peeled back the layers of tissue paper to find an old book with a frail leather cover. It was Dante's _Divine Comedy_ , the illustrated edition published in the 1860's – the decade I had been turned. There was a note that slipped out as I gingerly removed the book from the box.

 _J- You do read Italian, don't you? -B_

"What do you think, Jazz?" Alice sang, sliding from the closet, one shapely white limb at a time.

Ten thoughts pounded into my brain at once, including Edward's cryptic conversation with Carlisle, Bella's insistence upon shielding me, and the repetition of the Italian theme – not only over the New Year, but also from Christmas. Unsure as to what all of this portended, I did a rare thing; I kept it entirely from my wife.

"What do I think? I think you have finally managed to teach Bella about the joys of lingerie. I do think that this present is really meant for me."

I was sure that _that_ , anyway, was the utter truth.

* * *

 **A/N: So...what did you think? I'll be working on this story for a bit and will post when I've got a couple chapters ahead. -) Keep an eye open for me!**


	2. First Year  2018

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N: I have been working on this story, honest! :) With my thanks to _anndeveria_ for her help with the Italian translations, I bring you chapter two… See you down below!**

**A/N: I have been working on this story, honest! :) With my thanks to _anndeveria_ for her help with the Italian translations, I bring you chapter two… See you down below!**

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**Carlisle POV**

"I do thank you for your permission. My wife and I have always been most interested in the nocturnal practices of the Cape Buffalo." Big game hunters classified the buffalo as the most dangerous of the non-endangered species to hunt. After nearly four hundred years, I was more than ready to try my hand with them. Esme as well. She was not as fierce a hunter as our daughters perhaps, but my wife knew how to leap on her kill with dispatch.

Of course, I had taken the liberty of reviewing the now-classic National Geographic video clip of the Battle at Kruger, in which a pride of lions takes down a young buffalo, which is then almost stolen by a crocodile before the rest of the herd of buffalo return. The buffalo manage to rescue their lost calf – which was by some miracle still able to walk, by all that is holy – and disperse the pride of lions with some dramatic uses of buffalo horns and sheer determination. It was quite amazing to view.

Just at the moment, it was raining. Not a prohibitive amount of precipitation, but enough to keep it overcast and necessitate some coverage. Our guide was reviewing our safari credentials, seeming to come to the conclusion that we were indeed experienced. We signed a waiver and Esme smiled graciously in that lovely way of hers.

"Thank you so much. I've so been looking forward to this."

"You, ma'am?" the dark-skinned fellow said, his lips parting in an incredulous grin. He wiped a trail of sweat from his temple. "You must be a brave lady!"

"Oh, she is," I assured our host, drawing Esme up against me. "She married me!"

"Well, all is in order, Mr. and Mrs. Cullen. A reminder that the Cape Buffalo are very formidable. Try not to get too close or to seem threatening. The rain today probably hasn't deterred them from grazing, but if so, they'll be active tonight. On behalf of the park, I wish you a safe safari."

All the while we were listening to Mr. Abouti's discussion about the dangers of the safari, the needed equipment and so forth, I was practicing.

 _Nascondi. I Tuoi. Pensieri. Tu. Puoi. Lui. Non Può. Vedere._

 _Hide. Your. Thoughts. You. Can. He. Cannot. See._ Words coded from books my newest daughter was studying. We used the words in Italian because, as Bella suggested, it would be a "double fake-out."

"If we use English, that'd be too easy. If we choose another language, they'd be suspicious when they came over it. Even if it was in my course of study," she had intimated as we were saying our final farewells in front of the Hanover house. No one could hear us, and Bella was highly nervous. "Italian. My studies."

"Of course, dear one."

And so we made our plan. It took a few emails, but she had truly plotted out a strategy beforehand. Perhaps her studies with Jasper on battle tactics had indeed gone to some further effect Jasper had intended. We exchanged information via discussions about her coursework, using a code we reinforced at the New Years' Party last year. My part was to practice hiding my thoughts. Even if there was no one around, I did know how to do it. Decades of living with Edward had taught me that much.

So I practiced. I had to be able to do better than I did, she informed me last year. Edward was prying. "He's suspicious," Bella had murmured into my ear in a lightning-speed blur of words. "Esme?"

I managed a negative before Bella pulled away to cross the room and hug her sisters and Esme. She had given a gift to Jasper that evening as well and I wondered just what Bella was trying to do.

 _My husband. Ignorant. Be._

 _Mio marito. Ignorante. Essere_.

Of course we couldn't tell Edward. So instead of meeting with the family this year, Esme and I were hunting big game in Africa. Georgia during the college football season was not my favorite place in any event.

"Oh Carlisle, I do miss the children, but it is a pleasure to be able to spend so much uninterrupted time with you," my wife murmured as we drove off through the light rain.

"I am sure 'the children' miss you, too," I assured her. "Jasper would be shaking his head to hear you now, you know."

Esme cast me a flirtatious glance and tossed a damp lock of hair over her shoulder. "He certainly doesn't see me as a maternal figure."

She was teasing me and I had to chuckle. "He's not the only one!"

"Well, at least Bella truly treats me as a mother. It's so nice to have one of 'the children' need a mother on occasion. Do you find that she treats you like a father?"

"Bella?" I navigated our four-wheel-drive vehicle around a tree that had been allowed to thrive on the road. "She's always treated me as a second father, I think. It's quite an honor, considering her father is still alive."

Esme winced and I apologized with a silent look and touch on her arm. Bella had tried, sincerely, to keep in touch with her family after her wedding and beginning life as an undergraduate student. But the strain had been too much for her to handle with equanimity. The decision had been made to have an accident in which she was killed shortly after she finished her Junior year at Dartmouth. (She had been able to enter as a Junior as she had already completed her first two years at a local college upon her marriage.) Edward acted the grieving widower – and indeed he did mourn for having to have been part of the cause of the grief evident at Bella Swan Cullen's funeral – and still communicated annually with Bella's parents, as they regarded him as their son-in-law. Christmas cards were exchanged, but even they made Bella weep in the rough, gasping way of our kind.

We let the sad silence linger between us as we drove further into the park. There were game wardens, but they had been informed of our visit and the Cullen credentials were such that they were pleased to let us be on our own.

"Let's stop here," I suggested at last. "Take a scent."

"In this weather?" Esme challenged, a glint in her eye. "We could also listen. It'd be more reliable."

"As you wish."

We parked the automobile and I dashed around to Esme's side of the car to hand her out of it. Of course my wife did not require my assistance in this or any other matter, but she was kind enough to allow me the mask of humanity in such things. We inhaled deeply together – decades as hunting partners allowed for us to do this so closely to one another. The soil affected the scents of the wildlife, but it was not entirely unfamiliar. I just had to reacquaint myself with the richer green of the odors. The herbivore leavings were strong, here.

I glanced at Esme as she swung her eyes toward me. They darkened as I watched. "Hunting first, lover-boy," she sneered playfully.

"Game on, as the boys say," I returned.

We took off on a run, following the pungent aroma of Cape Buffalo. Through the night, the rain glancing off my stone skin, I flashed after the herd. My sense of smell traced their path as my sense of sight caught their current location, far ahead between two copses of high-leafed trees. The beasts snuffled and made deep lowing sounds as they moved together. I could feel my interest spiking. Heavy animals, full-blooded, I would only really need one so I better make this a great hunting experience.

I glanced at my Esme, who was focused entirely on the herd in front of us. There was an older calf – smaller than a female adult buffalo but larger than a noticeably newer-born – who was straggling on the edge. I winced, remembering the video I had seen and the intense protectiveness the Cape Buffalo exhibited in terms of their young. Still, I knew that Esme could take the youngling away if she chose it for her prey.

She didn't.

I found my attention absolutely held spellbound as my mate unleashed her wildest side. Her lush hair streamed behind her as she sped to the rear of the herd and leapt, cracking the back of a smallish adult female so that the creature collapsed with a weak sound of protest. I was poised to run to Esme's aid if she found the buffalo too awkward to move from the herd, but she did not require me. She hefted the cow to her own shoulders in a fireman's carry and lifted her prey away.

And best of all, the beast was incapacitated but her heart still beat, so the blood would be fresh.

However, the death of this member of the herd left the others restless. "Careful!" Esme cautioned as she ran away, following the scent trail of the herd and back toward our vehicle.

"You too!"

And she was gone. I would miss seeing her drain her kill, but I had a hunger of my own to satisfy. The animals were not going to make it easy, either. They were already shifting, refusing to move ahead on whatever path their Alpha Male, or whatever it was, chose for them. They milled about, circling, herding the younger and more vulnerable of their number to the center of their massive community. The wet earth shifted underneath their many hooves, making a susurrant, slushing sound while they reorganized. The males were alert, their horned heads shifting back and forth. Esme's scent was unknown to them, but they knew it wasn't normal.

I was exhilarated by the challenge before me. To take down a bull, to do so while not incurring damage to myself and without further damaging the herd, was my goal. I ran around the northern edge of the herd as the rain let up. Careful not to step in any unstable patches of earth, I hopped and leapt to the top of a tree within easy access to the Cape Buffalo herd. Then, when I sensed their instinct was going to cause them to run, I jumped hard from the tree, using gravity and my own body mass and innate strength to break the spine of a lead bull in two. He made some crazed sound that sounded almost like a honking, throaty bellow before I muscled him away, out of the path of the following stampede.

Following Esme's scent, I hefted the bull in her wake, stopping several yards from her. The heartbeat of the cow was slow and sluggish, meaning that my wife was nearly sated with nourishment. My turn.

I drank from the Cape Buffalo, appreciating the thick, savory quality of its blood and thankful that both Esme and I had hunted and escaped unscathed. When we were finished, we helped one another with the chore of handling the corpses. We quartered the cow and distributed her flesh for the carrion birds and beasts while burying the bull. Less conspicuous, that way.

Then, we followed our noses to the nearest watering hole and cleaned ourselves up. Seeing my mate's bare skin in the moonlight did prompt other instincts entirely...

 **C &E C&E C&E**

We had had to take our lovemaking to the trees, of all places, to avoid the sun when it rose, hot and pulsing, over the horizon. I was rather dismayed to find that we were not alone when we were just finding an interesting new way to incorporate a branch into our time together.

"Carlisle Cullen! I can catch your scent and it will do you no good to hide from me. I have been in search of you for quite some time."

In the tree, Esme and I heard the male vampiric voice and stilled for an instant before snagging our clothing from the high branches where they were hanging and dressing at speeds that would have appeared blurs to any human eye. Then, we exchanged smiles with each other. We had spent decades living with "the children" and such quick-dressing was something we had done often enough to save the notional embarrassment of the others in our family.

Esme and I – though rather conservative in our outer appearances – were _adventurous_ in our intimacy on occasion.

I stood in front of my wife as the newcomer approached. He had not hurried, but his path led him inexorably to stand beneath us.

"Felix," I murmured. "It's been a long while, friend." Esme relaxed behind me as I smiled politely at one of the senior members of the Volturi Guard. "Allow me to introduce to you my wife. My mate, Esme."

We leapt gracefully to the ground and shook hands in a most civilized and conventional manner. Esme restrained her unease and took her lead from me as Felix nodded to her. "Carlisle. I have come on Aro's behalf."

Felix was an enormous form of a man. Six feet, ten inches in height, he looked as if he could have been a modern-day body builder, selling shakes on an infomercial on cable television. The morning sun glinted quietly off the skin that stretched over his prominent cheekbones. The rest of him was adequately covered. Thin gloves, a thin sweater, linen trousers and low safari hat served to cover him in such a way as was unremarkable. He could not help his stunning proportions, but Felix had done what he could to make himself nondescript in every other way.

"I imagine he's wanting you to check up on us?" I could not quite keep the edge of bitterness from my voice. "As you can see, Esme and I are quite alone, here."

Felix nodded again, his hands crossed in front of him. "Yes. That is indeed part of it. I am sorry. You understand he is only seeking the best for our kind."

"Oh, and a coven of animal-drinkers is terribly threatening," Esme muttered from under my arm, where I kept her close to me.

Felix coughed unnecessarily. "It is not your diet that concerns The Three, Esme Cullen. As I am sure you are aware."

"I know," I assured him. "So, you see us as we are. Should I assume that you or your fellow Guard members are to establish the same for the rest of our family?" I wondered if I had any need to get in touch with Bella.

 _Nascondi. I Tuoi. Pensieri. Hide your thoughts._

I threw up barriers in my mind, to practice. If I were brought before Aro, I couldn't hide my thoughts, but before Edward... I had to. I had to be able to for all of our sakes. Aro would burn Bella in front of us all and that would destroy my family more certainly than Aro's decree.

"Indeed. Aro has been most...pleased...with your apparent willingness to be guided by his wisdom."

Apparent willingness. So Aro was not entirely convinced. Well. We had to work harder at that.

"We were given little choice," I reminded Felix with a lift of my brow. "So we complied."

"We would be most grateful if you would not alert the rest of your disbanded coven to the impending visits. It would be most...unpleasant to have to resort to calling Demetri or someone else to track them down."

I grimaced. I had to comply or our plan would be exposed. Jasper had convinced me of the importance of lulling the Volturi into a belief of our compliance with their unreasonable request. He was a man of war and I would heed him.

"Of course," I assured the Guard. "We are hunting at this time, as you can see. I have no plans on being in communication with anyone at this juncture aside from my wife. We have been surrounded by others for decades and are rather enjoying the solitude."

The giant vampire merely bowed at Esme and me one final time before saying, "We thank you. Enjoy your...second honeymoon, Carlisle Cullen. Esme Cullen."

* * *

 **Emmett POV**

"All right," I told Rosalie from my computer across the office from hers. "Got the grades submitted and I am ready for that hunt I promised you." Summer loomed hot ahead of us, but I loved that the humidity wouldn't affect us. Much.

My incredibly sexy wife hummed at me in the distracted way she had when she was in the middle of a thought. She was typing. She was always typing, lately. Ever since Jasper suggested at New Year's that she should consider writing a book, Rosalie had taken his words to heart and had been typing practically ever since. With some breaks if I was behaving myself.

"He thought I should think about a self-help book, or something about female empowerment," Rosie had told me on the way home in January. "But honest? I want to sneak in that stuff. I think I'd rather write a novel. I could do that, right?" Her golden eyes had touched mine, seeking my approval.

As if she needed it. But she did, really. I got Rosalie in her entirety. Her incredible strength, fierce pride and her deep-seated vulnerabilities. She was an amazing woman. I leaned back in my chair and watched as her fingers found their way through her thoughts. She could make that keyboard clatter away like a Tommy gun if she wanted to, and if her words were keeping up with her thoughts. Other times, the dialogue tended to slow her down so that the keys were tapped more contemplatively. Dialogue did this to her, I had come to learn.

I smiled at her bowed head while she thought and fought for words that she wanted her characters to say. I turned to a project of my own and remembered to keep that same smile on my face as I did so.

It wasn't easy. Bells really was a piece of work.

 **E &R E&R E&R**

"I hear Atlanta is a great city," she had told me on the phone. Her tone was totally casual. I didn't see it coming. "Didn't they have the Olympics there, once?"

"Yep. You can still see some of the sites, too," I told her. I remember that I was reading while she was talking to me. Clicking away pages on my Kindle reader.

"When you're teaching, do you do anything with sports and, like, the shot put and stuff? You know, they physics of it? The math? How do athletes figure that out how much force they have to put into their work?" Oh, she had been so cagey...

"Well, humans have to be really careful in how they apply force," I had told her, still not seeing it coming. "We don't have the same restraints."

"What kind of restraints hold people like us?" she asked. I could still hear the edge to her tone. "Handcuffs won't do it, right?"

"Thinking of bondage with Eddie boy, over there?"

Her laugh had been short and sharp. "Mmmm... I wouldn't discount the idea. Seriously, Dr. McCarty, how could little ol' me ever try to, um, restrain a big, bad vampire...?" A curl came to her voice and I thought for sure I had her.

But when I had pulled Edward aside at New Years to see how the whole bondage scene was working for him, he looked at me as if I'd grown another head.

 **E &R E&R E&R**

A little envelope popped up on my computer screen while I waited for Rose's internal dialogue to manifest itself on her screen. "i. at dartmouth dot edu."

Now what?

 **  
_Hey to my favorite physics professor!_   
**

**  
_So I was wanting to check on that bondage issue, you know? Like what kind of restraints I should use? The conventional ones just aren't...effective. Do you know of any experimental materials that might work on a really, really strong man? Hmmm? You're the strongest man I know..._   
**

**  
_I know, Emm! Maybe you could do some trials for me?_   
**

**  
_Love ya!_   
**

**  
_B_   
**

Something was off, here. Still, I remembered that Jasper had found that we were being tapped, and I was fairly certain Bella and Edward were aware of this as well, so it is entirely possible this was just a ruse.

But what the _hell_ was Isabella Swan Cullen up to?

"Emmett?" Rosalie was suddenly behind me, scanning the email on my screen. Inwardly, I flinched. "What's up? What about our hunt, honey?"

I closed the mail window and spun in my chair to pull my wife onto my lap. "Hey, I was asking you about that just a few minutes ago. Ready to run?"

"Let me go change first," she said, her mind still apparently half on her story. "Are we taking the Jeep or going local?"

I laughed. "You up for a drive?"

"It's the end of the term, Emm. I'm up for anything." Her smile promised me anything and everything and then some. I squeezed her curves against me and she tossed her hair flirtatiously. "That, too, if you want to postpone our hunt for a day..."

I was ready to take her up on that, too, when there was a knock at the door, followed by a sharp ring of our doorbell.

Rosalie rolled her eyes and slid off my lap. "I swear, if it's one of the frat boys out to try to get you drunk again, Professor McCarty..."

"I'll get rid of them if it is, honey." I wiggled my brows suggestively. "Nothing is more intoxicating than you are."

"I'll be waiting, then," she purred as she dashed off up the stairs. Amazing how fast she moved.

Another knock dragged my attention back to the door and I found my glasses – plain glass in a platinum frame that Rose had made for me – and put them on. "Coming!"

I opened the door, assuming the demeanor of Emmett McCarty, PhD, Physics Professor. It was a demeanor I dropped immediately upon seeing the vampire at the front door. A vampire who had disguised his scent. A vampire who was bigger than I was.

My mind flew immediately to Bella's email and several things clicked in my mind at once. I felt the stupid need to inhale, deep and fast, but I pushed the need away. "Good evening," I said instead. Taking in the trousers and hat and gloves, I remarked, "It's kind of hot for gloves, you know. Doesn't blend in well."

"Good evening, Emmett Cullen. I am Felix from the Volturi. I have already been to see Carlisle and Esme, as well as Edward and Isabella – beautiful sister you have, by the way, and they send their regards. Jasper and Alice were not available – would you happen to know where they are?"

"Emmett? Honey?"

Felix continued to stand on our front porch and I couldn't bring myself to invite him in. I was edgy, every muscle in my body tense with the need to defend my family. I rarely met anyone bigger than I was. Maybe that's what this feeling stemmed from; I didn't know. "Rosalie? We have company."

She was down the stairs in a flash. "Oh," she murmured. Thankfully, she hadn't undressed yet. "Hello. Emmett, why haven't you invited our guest inside?" Her words were polite, but her face was foreboding; she didn't like this guy any more than I did.

"Come in, come in," I said at last. Didn't want to dismember a member of the Volturi in front of the neighbors.

Felix, swept past me as if he owned my house. I stiffened again and would have caught him by his overdressed arm if Rose hadn't taken my hand in hers first. "I am relieved that my coming is so obviously a surprise. I wasn't sure if the rest of your...family...would have managed to keep their knowledge to themselves." Felix strode through the hall and into the unused dining room of our home.

It was a Victorian house, built about the time Rose and I had been alive as humans. Almost a hundred years ago, really. We had renovated it and it looked authentic on the surfaces. The hardwood floor Felix stood on didn't break with his mass, though, since Rose and I had reinforced all the floors against the surety of... enthusiastic sexual activity. Living alone had its perks!

I tried for casual. Again. Removing my prop-glasses, I leaned against the wainscoting on the wall. "Yep. Big surprise. So what's up, Felix of the Volturi?" A big man, indeed. Bells had been trying to tell me! That's what that email was for. Well, part of the reason for it, anyway.

Felix stood as immovable as a memorial in a cemetery. "Aro, a friend of your sire's, was merely wishing to see how you and the rest of your coven were doing. He was, of course, gratified that you were all so...willing to comply with his wishes."

As if we'd had a choice! Arrogant ass. Rosalie crossed her arms; being casual was not her style. "You scattered my family. We've stayed scattered. Happy?"

"You were reunited..."

"Only for a holiday party. You know, a party? So we girls can get dressed up and make our men wear nice suits." She cast me a disparaging glance that I knew was a sham. "This one especially. Can't take him anywhere."

Felix lifted one dark brow. "I see. Any plans for another...party?"

"No," Rose stated, her voice firm. "Not this year. I hate that you've done this to us, just so you know."

Felix didn't appear to care in the least what Rosalie thought of him. He was an idiot. "You can understand that Aro doesn't entirely trust your compliance." I snorted. He continued. "With a family as gifted as yours, we are understandably cautious."

"Look at us," I said, pulling Rose next to my side. "She and I? Not gifted. I mean, you know, she's hotter than any female _you'll_ ever bribe to sleep with you, but that's it."

Rosalie laughed at me. "And he's sm–"

I nudged her hard in her ribs. She winced. "So much better in bed that you'll ever hope to be," she blurted. A look in her eye told me I'd hear about this later. What could I say? Bella was all about secrets and I couldn't say anything when I was only guessing.

Right?

Felix rolled his eyes, refusing to be baited to retaliate, even verbally. "Thank you for your reassurances. I have apparently interrupted your evening."

"Yeah, we were going hunting. For animals, you know." I moved toward the front of the house. I'm real subtle. "So we'd rather not get caught during the daylight and it'd be best if you left. Now."

He displayed no irritation. Just inhaled, obviously checking for other scents, and then he smiled in the most patronizing manner ever. "Thank you. It was a pleasure making your acquaintance."

"Likewise," Rosalie grumbled.

We watched him leave, heard his car drive off down the street and then my wife turned to me, hands on her hips.

"Emmett McCarty Cullen. What the hell was that all about?"

* * *

 **A/N 2: News! I have been added as a VIP Author at A Different Forest. I have a cabin where I post teasers for this story as well as a place folks can come say hello. Links are on my profile page, if you're interested!**

 **Also, my story Surprise M'Ending is up for a GLOVE AWARD for BEST OOC story. The link to voting for this and other wonderful stories is: http :/thegloveawards .webs .com/ vote. htm - Just take out the spaces and you've got a perfectly usable URL. :)**

 **Thanks for reading and stay tuned! I am busily at work with Edward and Bella right this minute...**


	3. Third Year 2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _**A/N: With my gratitude extended again to anndeveria who has been so kind as to serve as my Italian translator! Thank you!** _

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**A/N: With my gratitude extended again to anndeveria who has been so kind as to serve as my Italian translator! Thank you!**   
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* * *

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**3\. Third Year: 2020**

 **Edward POV**

"So? Do you like it?"

Bella slid from the closet shortly after midnight on this, my actual birthday. One hundred and nineteen, she had reminded me with a smile. In celebration, she had sent measurements to Alice and had had this amazing bit of couture lingerie delivered. "That lace is all but transparent," I murmured, appreciation coiling within me. "I really must invest further in Alice's company."

Bella spun _en pointe_ , her hair whirling about her lithe form like a veil. A dark veil that gave tantalizing evidence of secrets hidden. She studied me through her lashes as her eyes went from dark gold to black with desire. "You _did_ invest, buying this. Just in case you wondered."

I rose to take her into my arms, lifting her with my hands at her waist – as a dancer might his partner. "Best investment I'll likely make all year. So what else was in that mysterious package?"

She wrapped her body around mine. "Hm? Nothing. I think Jasper was worried that the Volturi have Parcel Post infiltrated so he didn't send any books or anything." She tilted her head back to meet my eyes, her own steadfast and serious. "This really is a pain, you know. Feeling all paranoid about everything."

I pressed my lips together, railing again against her silent mind. I wished I knew what she was thinking! "Why should we be paranoid? Felix checked on us last year and we haven't heard from them since." _Yes, my Bella. Why should I be worried? I am, my love. I don't know what you're thinking, but you are up to something_. Then, a thought revisited the forefront of my mind. "Do you know where Jasper and Alice were, last year? Felix had said he couldn't find them and his thoughts said nothing to the contrary."

She shook her head before I finished the question. "Nope. He only said in his email that he wanted to get back to their New York place as soon as possible. The emotions of wherever they were were killing him. Oh, and Alice was sketching for a new line." She smiled and leaned even further back to draw my attention again to the frothy, lacy, beguiling bit of nothing she wore. "Where it was, was time well spent."

Frustrated, yes. I was. Extremely. Bella had been keeping me out of her mind far too often, of late. She allowed me no private inclusions into her thoughts, save when we were making love. And then, the moments were fleeting – passionate, encompassing, arousing, but gone far too soon, as we mutually recovered from our sated desires.

I was tugged away from my discontent by the smooth pressure of her fingers on the waistband of my trousers. "So...what else does the birthday boy want, hm?"

My smile was entirely involuntary, as was the restless motion of my own hand as it slipped between her smooth skin and the lace at the small of her back. "I thought you were against birthday presents."

Playfully, she arched her back so that I had to lean to catch her shoulders. She had been indestructible for more than a decade, but I still felt the compulsion to keep her body safe even in such a small circumstance. Her smile was a bit smug. "Well, I like them to mean something," she whispered, her breath brushing my sensitive skin. "So what does my mate want that might...mean something?"

I was still powerfully affected when she called me her _mate_. I demonstrated the answer to that without another word being spoken.

 **E &B E&B E&B **

The coursework wasn't too terribly difficult but it was entirely new as Bella and I began our second year in our respective doctoral programs. The more difficult part of the experience, for my wife, was aging herself.

"I'm s'posed to be, like, twenty-five and I still look nineteen!" she lamented to Alice on the phone. This was, we had determined, a phonecall that the Volturi would not take exception to, since it had to do with keeping the secret. They didn't approve of our integrating so closely with humans, but it had been the custom of our family for over a century.

"You were changed just before you turned twenty-three, silly Bella. Quit stressing."

Bella harrumphed loudly and frowned at her reflection in the long boudoir mirror in our room. We still resided in the Hanover house, still using the bedroom we had claimed upon first moving here, years ago. "Fine. I figure I can finish the requirements for this degree in two more years. I'll need help before then, Family Designer."

I lounged on the bed in my stocking feet, legs crossed, and watched my wife pout about her appearance. She was highly amusing as she frowned and tried to make wrinkles on her forehead and about her eyes. I had seen her practicing before.

My sister's voice came through over the speaker-phone. "Ah, wait. I can see you buying some longer skirts this coming season. _Seriously_ , Bella. And some high collars. Stick to flats when doing academic...things. You know."

"Thanks, Alice. Maybe we can get together next year and you, Rose and Esme can give me tips."

I heard a squeal and Bella froze, shot me a guilty look and whipped the handset from the base, shrieking, "No! No no no no! Not one word! No!" as she ran from the room. I strained my hearing, but forbore following her. Frustration tightened my body, however, as I sprang from the bed to pace in our room. What secret was she keeping? The last time there was a big production made out of a secret, the lacy lingerie had arrived in June. But this time, I rather doubted transparent lace was what had my wife coming unglued on the phone with my sister.

Finally, I decided I couldn't take the suspense. I couldn't hear her thoughts, but I could hear her words if she was in range of the telephone's internal connection.

"I haven't told him yet, Jasper. I had thought to try to study alone. Will you come?"

About then, I decided enough was enough. "Bella," I said quietly.

"Damn. Gotta go, Jas. Be safe." She hit the disconnect key, turned slowly to meet my eyes and took a deep breath.

I waited, my dead heart aching as I hoped in vain for her to open her mind and tell me what was going on with her and my brother. And my sire, for that matter. Carlisle had tried diligently to conceal his thoughts regarding his newest daughter but was not entirely successful. Images of holding her in farewell, whispers of "messages" he tried to hide. I confronted him on it, but had to admit to him that I had no reason to distrust her. Carlisle and Jasper had both been of material assistance while she was working on her degrees.

This was different and I hated having to say something, to ask, to doubt. But I couldn't read her mind so there was no other way.

"Bella..." I tried to keep my voice even but she was not fooled.

Worry filled her eyes. Setting the phone absently on the sideboard, she crossed to take my stiff-fingered hands in hers. "It was supposed to be a surprise, Edward."

"A surprise?" I managed to say over the perceived pressure in my chest. "Keeping secrets from me with my brother? With Carlisle? What is it? Am I.." I couldn't put voice to the words. I just couldn't.

"I _love_ you," she murmured fervently, her hands ghosting up my arms to meet behind my neck. "Never doubt that. I know that sometimes things are...weird," she said, tilting her head to press her forehead to my chest, "but never doubt that, Edward. You are my life."

"Then let me _in_ , my Bella," I begged, my arms tightening about her.

She moistened her lips, leaving a slight sheen of sweet venom that wafted up to my nose. "I wanted to go to Italy to do research on my thesis," she said at last. "Carlisle was telling me of some of the texts they had in Rome, and the commentaries that were available. He knows people, Edward," she continued, tilting her body to meet my eyes. "He's always been so supportive of my studies."

I had to acknowledge that as truth, but the uncertainties still plagued me. I swung Bella up in my arms and headed to the stairs, leaving the phone behind us. "I know, but what did you say to Jasper about going alone?" I remembered how bereft I felt years before, in Brazil, when I thought she was leaving me. That pain sliced at me again. " _Alone_ , Bella?"

"You know how you wanted me to experience things, right? I'm doing well enough, don't you think? About controlling my bloodlust?"

In our room again, surrounded by our combined scents, I was comforted somewhat. "You are a wonder," I assured her. "I've not worried about you for a moment since you started your studies."

"Then why would you worry about me going?"

"Away from me...?"

Her mouth made a silent _O_. "But, you've got your classes here, Edward. I wouldn't want you to delay them on my account. Really, I'll be fine. Alice said she and Jasper sometimes do that, you know. Pursue their interests in different places. It doesn't mean their relationship has suffered, does it? Has it?"

"You're right; it doesn't and it hasn't." I settled us in the middle of our bed, my back against the down pillows, my wife curled into my body. She wasn't looking me in the eye but she was ducking her head as she used to do when she had the ability to blush. I sighed and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Love. You promised me that you wouldn't go anywhere that I didn't take you. Do you remember?"

I felt her exhale a short laugh. "Do promises made while human even count?"

"Yes!"

She sighed in apparent surrender. "All right. I applied for the overseas program and I didn't want to tell you, because it was a secret." She squirmed and rolled off of me to kneel on the bed and run her fingers through my hair. "I applied for you, too, but I haven't heard back, yet."

I ignored the way her hands were making me feel; I didn't want to be distracted. "Bella. You _promised_."

"What if your department won't allow for that for you? Do you want to lose time on your studies?" Leaning in, she began to nuzzle my throat, her tongue flickering over the sensitive traces of my veins. "Hmmm? I'd hate for you to be delayed on my account."

"Bella... You are trying to derail this conversation." But what a sweet derailment it was...

She pushed herself away and I missed her efforts more than I cared to admit. "All right. I did promise. So even if it delays your studies, you can bring me to Italy when I go next year, all right?" She smirked at me in the most adorable manner and I refused to resist her charms any longer.

Like a cat on the prowl, I rolled my body forward until I was moving toward her on our bed. "That will suit very well. Now quit being such a tease and –"

She leapt over me, all grace and laughing beauty, toward the nearest door. "You'll have to catch me!"

I did catch her and, as I claimed my reward against the wall of the shower, Bella opened her mind to me for a brief time. I dove in and wallowed in the love and desire she had for me. For a time, all felt as it should.

Two weeks later, a package was delivered for her while she was taking a post-hunting shower. The insulated package was from my brother, Emmett.

In it was an advanced copy of Rosalie's first novel, _Vera Ups the Volume_ , and a cable made with many strands of a hybrid metal I'd never seen before. The cable was perhaps a quarter inch in diameter and approximately three feet in length.

"I think I found what you were looking for, Bells. Hope it ties up that naughty vampire good and tight! Hey, if you need a bigger vampire, you know where to find one. Ha ha ha! - EMC."

I was flabbergasted.

* * *

 **Jasper POV**

Nose wrinkled in distaste, my wife shook her head. "No. We do not want to go to Italy, Jazz. Not for Christmas. There's a Tracker with the Guard that makes James – you _do_ remember James, don't you? – look like a preschooler." With a finger, she pushed me back onto the sofa where I sat straight-backed. If I did that she and I were almost eye-to-eye, which had surely been her goal. "What I see is you, walking around Italy in the sunshine. Tuscany, I'm thinking. Everyone around you is dressed for warm weather, so I know it can't be Christmas. It's a very crowded town, the buildings overwhelm the streets."

I imagined Volterra looked very much like that. I had checked on GoogleEarth to find what major cities Volterra was close to, and learned it was almost halfway between Rome and Milan. Both of these cities would give Alice plenty to do and they were each about four hours drive to Volterra. Which meant a little more than an hour's run each way for me. I could work with that. Alice would go off getting sketches and meeting with people – she always knew where to find people in the Fashion Industry, no matter what country we were in – and I would have time to go wander about on my own.

Sort of.

"There are several libraries in Rome. I'll make that my base and then I can get out on my own," Bella had whispered.

"What about Edward?" I had shot back, wondering how much of this supposedly private conversation was being overheard by one means or another. At least Bella was immune from her mate's giftedness...unlike some of us.

I heard her quick intake of breath. "I haven't told him yet, Jasper. I had thought to try to study alone. Will you come?"

"Yes." That's all I had time for before she informed me she had to go.

I half-expected Edward to be calling within a minute, demanding to know what his wife was up to, but he didn't. I was guessin' that my little sister and her shield were hiding more secrets than even I knew about, but that she could keep them from her husband, too.

Alice harrumphed a little and slid onto my lap, allowing me to relax into the butter-soft leather of the sofa in our New York apartment. "So I guess we are going, but not just yet." Then, after an infinitesimal pause, she almost shouted, "Milan! You're taking me to Milan!" She beamed at me, spinning quickly on my lap to straddle me and plant a firm, enthusiastic kiss on my lips. "Darling man. We'll have the best time and I'll make sure to get in touch with Trussardi and the new house, Deveria. Yes. Oh," she went on, her ink-hued brows rising into her forehead. "I thought I saw Bella and Edward!"

"With us?" I shot back, keeping a lid on my shock and dismay when she informed me of this. "We could have a party," I added, thinking we might have to, if we were seen together, but also to give my Alice something to think about that wasn't along the lines of why Bella really wanted to be in Italy.

With me.

The code had been simple, but brilliant. The most effective things usually were. In the copy of the Divine Comedy Bella had given me, she had slipped in several bookmarks on cream vellum. Knowing the limits of my wife's gift well, Bella understood that Alice could certainly see me opening a book and see me inspecting the pages our sister had marked for us. What Alice couldn't see were the uninked, all-but-invisible dots and dashes of Morse Code that had been pressed lightly into each strip of vellum. Only barely felt by my fingertips and only because Bella knew I would know Morse Code well enough to recognize it.

I don't know why she didn't just use Braille. It would have been easier. Perhaps she didn't know I knew it?

Each strip had a number or numbers indicated. If the strips were lost, they would be meaningless on their own. The number corresponded to words in the text. The Italian words in an Italian text. Bella was certifiable, and that I would be sure to tell her if and when she managed to pull this off.

Whatever it was, entirely. I still wasn't sure. All I knew was that she was practicing projection of her gift, as she had on New Year's Eve at that party in this very apartment. Was she going to try to shield Edward? Her insistence upon secrecy was heavy. Who else, though, would she need to protect from a distance? In Italy?

She had to be protecting someone from the Volturi and I had to figure it was Edward. The secrecy thing didn't sit entirely right with me, but as I had told Carlisle before we had disbanded, we needed to lay low and make everything look right on the surface. Bella heard me, and that girl is not one to miss a lesson. She's a terrific scholar.

And a hell of a strategist. I only wished I was able to discern her entire war plan, because I have more experience in these things than she does.

So, I'd be going to Italy. Not this spring, but just as the next academic term started. Fortunately, I could take my classes with me anywhere on the internet.

"A party! Oh, that'd be so much fun." Then, Alice froze, her smile stiffening to an unyielding line. "If we have one, they'll crash it," she groused. "I see a man coming to meet us if we have a party."

"Felix? The big one?" She had seen him in a vision going to Carlisle and Esme before flying to the States to meet the rest of the family. We weren't there.

"No, not so big. Wait. Hm. He is introducing himself as Demetri. Edward _isn't_ happy to make his acquaintance." Alice giggled. She often found our emo-brother's reactions to people amusing.

As soon as Alice had seen Aro planning on sending someone to locate and speak to us, she had managed to find a good reason to run to Egypt. A new design for some evening wear or something. She had considered using the traditional cotton-weave that the wealthy Egyptians had used back before even the Romans had begun to have an Empire, but that cloth was highly revealing. I convinced her to be modern.

"Hm. Maybe Demetri's putting the moves on Bella in your vision? She has had that effect on people a time or two." At Alice's incredulous look I shrugged and rolled her body more closely into mine. "I do get the vibes, hon. You know it. I know it."

"Maybe we should just stay home," she said, her voice speculative as she made a temporary decision. She did this to see if the outcome of a vision would change. I waited, only to have her jump right out of my arms and land abruptly on her feet in front of me. "Jasper Whitlock! You're still going!" Hurt radiated from her. Hurt and sadness tinged with jealousy. "I don't see her in the vision, now, but you're still going! Without me!" Then, her ire surfaced about her, jagged spikes that pierced the mist of the other emotions.

"Hey, hey, you're doing it again, hon," I said, my hands up and projecting just the smallest puffs of peace and tranquility to waft over and around her. "You're gettin' mad at me for something that hasn't even happened yet. You've been doing that to me for decades and you _know_ I get tired of it." I lifted a brow at her; this was something we had argued about since at least the nineteen-sixties. I beckoned her back to me with one hand. "C'mon, hon. Let's dance instead of fence, all right?"

Her small figure relaxed and I saw the soft emergence of regret and apologetic feelings float about her. "Sorry, Jasper. I _do_ do that. I guess maybe I was feeling jealous?"

"You did have a bit of that but I assure you, my Alice, you have nothing to be jealous about."

I rose and sang to her as we danced about the long, narrow living room. Her distress eased and my own heart was more comfortable. I knew I had calmed my wife and I knew I would be able to do so in the future.

Alice was eager, in the middle of the night, to call Italy as they began their working day. _"A settembre mio marito mi porta a Milano e mi piacerebbe molto vedere la tua linea per l'estate 2022. Potremmo metterci d'accordo?"_

 _My husband is bringing me to Milan in September and I would very much like to see your Summer, '22 line. Could we arrange that?_

She would definitely be coming with me to Italy. I hoped Bella would still be able to practice as she had indicated she would.

* * *

 **Demetri POV**

"You know, my lord Aro, that I can no more track someone I haven't met personally than I could drain someone who isn't in the room with me." Really. Aro could _completely_ disregard the limitations others had in terms of their gifts. I'd like to see his ability limited once.

Just once!

He smiled at me with that infantile malice. "I know, my dear Demetri. You are the most powerful Tracker the world has ever seen. You need to get a sense of your...target, yes? We know where he lives. You could perhaps gain access to his residence and get a feel for him. I am sure there will be pictures there, and his scent will be about, and you might find enough to go on?"

I flung my hands up. "Fine. It will be as you say. I shall try, my lord Aro. And it is possible I might even meet the warrior in person."

"Remember, he's an Empath," Aro stated, his voice not infantile at all. He sounded like exactly the vampire he was: Feared, Powerful, Influential. "He will sense you coming and he will react in the negative. His wife is the Seer."

"I know. I'll be careful."

I was dismissed.

The trip to New York City was annoying, trapped in the moving cylinder with its pathetic humans and their minute concerns. The blood was not too tempting, as I fed heartily before my flight – Heidi was training Gianna on how to "fish" and I was pleased to benefit from the surplus – so really, the most annoying aspect to the whole business was waiting until dark before I could somehow gain access to the Whitlock's Fifth Avenue dwelling.

While I waited in a hotel not far from the building where they were believed to live, I observed the coming and going of the humans on the street. There must be many vampires who would choose to live here. The food supply was vast. Who would miss one or two of these pathetic creatures?

It was something to think about, if Aro ever found a stronger Tracker than I was.

The apartment was dark, that evening. These strange animal-drinkers did tend to blend in with the humans, Aro had said. "Perhaps they're at the cinema, or a theatre," I mused under my breath as I rang the bell to get into the building. Persuading the doorman was nothing, nor was finding the apartment. I just followed the scent of vampire.

I found an elevator with the fresh scents of two vampires. They had been in the lift not two hours prior. Excellent. I pushed the indicator buttons and where the scent continued, I followed. There was before me a lovely teak double door. Interesting pattern on the center sections. It took next to nothing to bypass the code required to enter; the security system was geared for humans, not vampires.

I thought Jasper Whitlock was a warrior? A ranking officer, if his biography served him correctly. I would have thought he'd have more of a care with this personal residence. Still, his loss was my gain.

Entering, I closed my eyes as I shut the door behind me. No one was home. "Pity," I said out loud.

I found a collection of photographs – how quaint. How _human_. Revolting. "Now aren't you the happy couple. Carlisle, old friend. I cannot believe you gathered such a coven. Hm. The Mindreader, the Shield...ah, she is lovely, isn't she? We really must get you to Volterra, dear." I imagined how much fun that would be. And then, I found them. The pair that appeared most often, in a variety of poses and costumes. She was tiny with unruly hair and huge eyes. He was tall and lean and looked – well, uncomfortable. He, at least, remembered what he was, if the stories were true.

I had an image and I went after scents. The strongest were to be found in the large bedroom on the opposite end of the residence. Then, they diverged from that door and down another corridor to two more rooms. The first was sweet and spicy. Her scent coated every surface in what was obviously the little one's office. She worked in clothing design and, apparently, enjoyed it. His scent was a combination of juniper and sandalwood and a hint of lemon. Ah, _there_ it was.

I strolled into his office. A computer was there, and a library of envious proportions. His scent was layered on the books, the chairs, the carpet... I closed my eyes and reached out my awareness for any lingering traces of him.

Nothing too concrete, but I had an idea, anyway. I knew his look, his scent and his proclivities...

Yes, I could find Jasper Whitlock. Eventually. New York really was a lovely city though, and I decided to explore it for a while. While I looked for the Empath. Of course.

* * *

 **A/N 2: I wanted to thank everyone who has been reading! Super thanks to the reviewers! I so enjoy hearing from you and I really do answer every reviewer. Hope y'all enjoyed hearing from Demetri. :) I had fun with his little snippet.**


	4. Fourth Year 2021

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who is joining us in this story! I am very much enjoying writing it. Thanks especially to those who are reviewing! Y'all are making me smile a LOT. Thanks so much!**

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who is joining us in this story! I am very much enjoying writing it. Thanks especially to those who are reviewing! Y'all are making me smile a LOT. Thanks so much!**

 _  
**With additional gratitude (yes, I'm thanking you again!) to anndeveria for continuing to be my expert on things Italian!**   
_

**4\. Fourth Year: 2021**

 **Carlisle POV**

"I am so sorry to have had to ask you to do this." Bella embraced me briefly and whispered her apologies in my ear. The breath of them barely slipped past the Crest of Helix to enter the auditory canal. "But I need you to describe the layout of the Volturi's living space. Where I would find them, were I to look."

Appalled and frightened on her behalf, I moved abruptly away from her. A flash from her golden-amber eyes – pleading, warning, annoyed – reminded me to throw up blinding thoughts to block my concerns from Edward. _Africa. Esme in the tree. Meeting Felix._ That was fine for Edward, but behind those thoughts, I was borderline frantic. _Oh, Isabella. What are you planning? Aro is ancient and powerful, my daughter._ Edward glanced our way, his eyes narrow and seeking. I nodded at him with a tight smile. "Now is not the time for your studies," I said out loud. "But perhaps later, you might go hunting with me? Then," I went on with another, more natural smile for my son, "we won't bore everyone with details of dusty old books."

She flashed me a bright, relieved smile. "Thanks, Dad!" It was the title she gave me when especially happy – or especially eager to twist me around her littlest finger. It never failed to work. "We'll have to do that _soon_."

Edward and Esme had been having their own welcome here at the airport while we waited for our luggage to work its way down the carousel. "You'd think," I muttered to Edward as we came together and shook hands, "that in this advanced time there would be a more efficient method to return luggage from an aircraft."

"The more things change, the more they remain the same," he quipped, a small smile on his face that didn't reach his eyes. "Esme said she had gifts for everyone and that Bella was offering to have us take them around on Spring Break to deliver. Like some kind of ... Souvenir Santa, she called it."

My son didn't need to focus his gaze upon me; after more than a century, I knew how it felt when he was watching my reactions carefully. I pictured him and Bella in a Santa and Elf combination that made _me_ smile, anyway. Edward snorted softly as the lights flashed to announce that the luggage was beginning its trip around the carousel.

After gathering the luggage and taking care of the various bits of miscellany necessary to gain freedom from an airport these days, we made our way with pretended luggage-awkwardness to the parking garage, loaded everything up in Edward's latest investment in European Automobile Manufacturing. He courteously opened the passenger door for Bella, but she forestalled him.

"No, let Esme sit with you, Edward. We haven't been together in so long. I'll sit back with Carlisle."

Edward didn't seem to bat an eyelash as he nodded coolly and complied. With trepidation, I joined my daughter in the plush seats. I did enjoy well-tanned leather. I always had.

I continued to keep a running commentary in the forefront of my brain. Again, time spent living with Edward had been instructive, but Bella's determination to do whatever it was she was planning to do had made this more important than mere misdirection.

Bella at one point sent me what I would deem a "significant look" but I managed – thankfully – to delay her code-like banter. Her freedom from Edward's accessibility to her mind would make her careless in such a situation, I could understand. But if she truly wanted her husband ignorant of this – and she and I had discussed this at some unusual length, through one means and another – she had to play by the rules the rest of us had to follow.

Edward didn't speak about anything more pressing than the weather until we pulled up in the familiar drive in Hanover. Not in the garage, which I didn't understand at first, until he pulled Bella into his side and the two of them tugged Esme and myself into a small, embracing huddle. Then he murmured, "Just reminding you that we know that our communications are compromised. Jasper called to tell us someone had been in their place in New York, leaving his scent all over the place, including the bedroom. Bella and I haven't detected a scent here, but if you, Carlisle, catch a whiff of someone you remember, we need to know, all right?"

Esme tensed under my arm and I saw her grip Bella's hand tightly. "Do we need to relocate, then? We were planning on that house in Montana for the next three years until we were going to –"

Edward interrupted with a shake of his head and moved a little. "No. And we have neighbors, so let's just take it easy with the luggage. So," he went on, "with the Volturi – had to be, we think, since it wasn't anyone Jasper has ever come across and the intruder didn't steal anything – prepared to be so invasive, Jasper and I think that we need to continue to maintain an evident distance."

"But you came to pick us up," I remarked, hefting a suitcase as if it weighed as much as my wife. As if I were a _human_ and it weighed as much as my wife. "Won't this make them suspicious?"

Edward exchanged a look with Bella, but I couldn't interpret it. "I lost a bet," he murmured, his voice almost too intimate for me to hear without grinning. "And Bella missed you. She's missed _all_ of our family a great deal." Layers were in his voice that I hadn't heard from him before our diaspora.

"She's not used to our isolated lifestyle the way the rest of us have had to be, over the decades," Esme said, shouldering her purse and wrapping an arm around Bella's shoulders. "I'm sure I'd be ready to brave the wrath of the Volturi too, if I were in her shoes."

Bella grimaced but sighed audibly. "Sorry. I'll try to do better. I swear I will."

 _Edward? Listening?_

My son nodded infinitesimally as he moved aside to let us into the house we all used to share, years ago. Esme and I inhaled deeply as a matter of instinct, really. It was strange, re-entering a dwelling that had been home for years. "Still smells rather the same," I commented to Bella, who was at my side as we entered the foyer. To my son, I thought, _I would like to know your plans, Edward. I know I have some time scheduled for Bella, but I miss hunting with you as well. Might we go together?_

"Your room is the same, if you want to freshen up," Bella offered. "All stocked with your favorites."

Edward held my gaze with dark eyes. He nodded again before saying, "Bella love, I'm going to take Carlisle hunting while you and Esme catch up. You might want to show her what we've done with the garden." As he turned to lead the way up the stairs, he slanted a look to me as if to say, _Well? I had to say something_.

After hefting the luggage up and leaving it to the women to discuss clothes and hunting and, almost assuredly, to gossip about their husbands while we were out, Edward and I silently flashed outside and took off at a run without a word passing between us. About a mile into the forest, he stopped and we took a scent.

"Black bear," I noted with a grin as the scent of the animal touched my nose. "Hungry, I'm guessing."

"Well, it is spring," my son remarked with a crooked smile. Mischief flared in his eye for a moment. "Emmett will be so jealous."

I laughed. "Then by all means, we need to hunt them." We took off, the pair of us, dashing through the forest at our top speeds to catch the black bear. A pair of them, by the scent, and we hoped to find them both.

 _Been a while since I hunted bear,_ I mentioned in my mind.

Edward dropped back immediately. "Take it, then. I don't want to kill the female. Smell her?"

 _Pregnant. Yes. Of course._

Edward veered off. "I'll go find a moose or deer, Carlisle. Back here?"

 _Indeed. Soon._

Sated, we returned not long thereafter, the sun a faded memory as the dark enfolded Edward and me. "So tell me," I began without any pleasantries. Edward had been relaxed only as we ran since we had met again at the airport. I wondered at his tension. Was I the cause of it?

"Not exactly." I winced and immediately tried to remember the barriers Bella had insisted on me using in Edward's presence. Exhausting. My son and I stood perfectly still, having no need to hide our natures at present. My trust in his awareness of conscious minds nearby was absolute.

"Thanks for that," he said flatly. "All right then. Jasper and I had, as you know, considered moving closer together probably as soon as next year. Not too close, but closer in terms of convenience. We're about five hours drive time at this point but, we're being closely watched."

"Felix."

"And whoever it was that went to Alice's." He shifted his body a little then, orienting himself toward the house. "So we hadn't planned on relocating yet..."

When his voice dwindled off and he started pacing, I spoke. "But...?"

"I don't know!" Stopping abruptly, he punched the trunk of the spruce tree nearest to him. The birds high in the branches protested loudly, several twigs rained down on our heads and I saw the impression of Edward's fist in the trunk. Woodchips exploded from under his knuckles, hitting the ground with soft patterings, the evidence of his frustration. "I don't know what she's doing! What's wrong with me? Why is she turning to everyone – every single man in this family – _but me?_ " He punched the tree with every phrase. The final one started it on a slow crash, with four-foot-high "stump" that would need to be obliterated before dawn.

I was at his side in less than a blink, my hand on his arm as the tree hit the ground. _Edward! What is it? What is she doing?_

"You know more than I do," he ground out, flinging my hand from his arm as he spun away from me and the tree. "It's _you_ she goes to with her 'schoolwork,' Carlisle. You and Jasper. And I don't know what the _hell_ Emmett is doing, sending her chains and discussing Lord only _knows_ what."

Chains? Jasper? I was utterly confused and allowed that confusion to suffuse my thoughts. I was also very afraid for Isabella. And concerned certainly about the marriage relationship between Edward and his wife. "Son," I began, smoothing my tone to the best of my ability. "You've mentioned before that Bella misses us. Misses her family. Surely she has been in contact with Alice and Rose?"

"Alice, yes," he said, biting off the admission with a bitter cast to his lips. "Not Rosalie, no."

"They never had much in common," I reminded him. While he gathered more thoughts, I started burying the chips of wood and scattering the branches, keeping my mind focused on Bella's relationships with the women in our family and the family in its entirety. I remembered our time together in the rainforest. I brought forth images of all of us playing Twister and then the hunt for the piranha specimens. Everyone's complete acceptance of human Bella and – keen in my infallible memory – the love that suffused every look and word Bella directed toward Edward.

Just to remind him that she loved him utterly. She had been willing to die to her humanity for him. She had allowed her life to end on paper for him, too. Her love overrode all other considerations.

"You think I don't know that?" Edward rasped. "I know she loves me. I know it. But what is she doing this for? Experimenting? Wasn't Jacob Black enough of an experiment for anyone?" He began pacing again at vampire speed, becoming a blur on the immediate landscape.

I halted him with my arm. "Now that's not fair. You know she loved Jacob. They were married in good faith until he imprinted. Whatever you do, do not mention that to her, no matter what, Edward."

"As if I would."

"I don't know what you'll do, but I believe you need to trust her. She's not with your brothers without you, is she? And you read everyone's thoughts but hers when we are together, even in a limited way." My gut wrenched, saying this. I kept my secret knowledge to myself, behind those barriers I was strengthening at Bella's behest, but it made me ache to be part of any deception of this nature.

Edward groaned and folded in on himself on the rich, damp ground. "But she wants to be."

 _What?_ I thought, joining him. _What is it? What did you hear? Surely Emmett hasn't –_

"I heard her telling Jasper she wanted to study without me. To go abroad on her own. And she wanted to know if _he_ would be there." The admission cost him something, something painful and the agony of it radiated from his eyes when they met mine. "I heard her, Carlisle. Oh, she told me later that it was a surprise and that she didn't want me to lose time studying but – but the fact remains she wanted to go on her own. And to meet Jasper there."

I didn't know what to say to him.

 **C &E C&E C&E**

"This is killing Edward," I said to Bella as we ran. A tense stretch of daylight had been had by all. Every ounce of Esme's maternal nurturing had been required to get through the day. We did some research on possible future properties together. Bella had played chess with Edward and then all of us had gone to the theater to see a new film release. Now it was evening and Bella and I were going on our hunt. Well, she hunted. I had fed the night before. "He destroyed a tree last night, thinking there was something – untoward – going on between you and your brothers."

Bella halted with a suddenness that required my running back to meet her. Her lips were parted and her fingers were curling spasmodically. No breath moved her chest. "I thought he was just upset because I wasn't letting him in, you know?" She spun and started running on a straight line back to the house. Fortunately, she was not as fast as Edward. I caught her before she had gone a tenth of a mile.

"Bella!"

"Let me go, I have to fix this!"

"How?"

"I'll tell him. I can't have him thinking I'm unfaithful to him. I love him more than my own life, Carlisle. You _know_ that." She gripped me by my shoulders, her gaze unflinching. "You _do_ , don't you?"

"Of course I do. I have some inkling – enough to terrify me, Isabella – of what you might be trying to do." I removed her hands as her grip was becoming painful, choosing to hold them in my own. "You said you wanted the layout of Volterra? Of where the Volturi live? Bella," I went on, my own voice dropping into near inaudibility, "what are you doing, little one?"

"I can't tell you," she said, her tones equally soft. "If any of you come before Aro..."

I nodded, having foreseen this much. "Yes. You're playing with fire. Not just for your own pyre, but for all of us," I warned her sternly. She was so young to be setting herself up against such a strong power structure.

A shiver went through her body before she pulled away from me. "I can't live with that kind of threat, Carlisle. I have to fix it. It's my fault. I have to fix it. Starting with Edward."

"Good."

"But not," she snapped, crossing her arms in front of her, "until you tell me everything you know about Volterra. I'm serious, Carlisle. I need to know or I'll have to go in myself to find out."

"No! You're not playing fair, Bella Cullen." I was furious – but I admired her tenacity as well. She was such a fit wife for Edward. "You're putting all of us at risk and I don't even know why! Tell me why I need to hide my thoughts from him."

She turned from me, her back stiff and unyielding as she considered my demand. Then, in a voice harder than our skin, she stated, "I can't. Hell, Carlisle, I wish I could. I hate that I can't give Edward the whole story. I hate that I can't tell you. But the first time Aro touches any of you," she ground out, turning again, "we're toast."

"If he catches you in Volterra...?"

"He won't."

I blinked at her immediate assurance. "What?" I was hopelessly confused.

She paused and then smoothed some stray hair from her temples. "He won't catch me in Volterra. Let's hunt, Carlisle. And then you'll tell me what I need to know."

"Bella..."

"Please?"

Fear possessed every inch of my skin for a moment but I studied her eyes. In the dark, they were even darker with her thirst and distress. Dark, but the conviction they held was something even I, with all my time on Earth, could not deny. "After you've hunted."

I prayed, as we ran and as she brought down three deer, that I wasn't signing her death warrant.

 **Jasper POV**

Alice stretched above me, her golden eyes half-lidded. "Oh, I _love_ Italy," she purred.

"And I love _you_ loving Italy," I assured her, sounding as breathless as any human at such a moment. "You are so beautiful."

She and I "loved Italy" in our Milan hotel suite all through the sunny September afternoon. We were staying at a place Alice found called Town House 12. "It's a boutique hotel," she had said, almost giddy. "Right in the middle of the nightlife. It'll be _perfect_." It pretty much was. I liked the fact that it wasn't a frilly kind of place. It felt like home, more or less. Home meaning our current place on Fifth Avenue in New York.

Alice had a meeting with Anna of the House of Deveria for dinner this evening in preparation for visiting the designers tomorrow. I think she was planning on practicing her Italian with someone other than me. "You're so...distracting," she said. Frequently. It wasn't that she was complaining.

I waited until she was safely on her way to her late night appointment before I picked up the hotel phone. In another Morse Code message (which Bella had contrived to use under the printed lines of a copy of her thesis proposal that she mailed to me) my newest sister had suggested – Aw, hell, who was I kidding? She had _directed_ like any military operation leader – we use hotel phones to talk to one another, as they would be less likely to be tapped by the Volturi. After all, the hotels were in Rome and Milan. Bella had indicated they would stay in a hotel until her practice with me was completed, at which time she and Edward would rent a flat.

Once I was put through to the front desk, I asked for Isabella Cullen.

" _La signora_ Cullen is actually in the lobby," the concierge told me in English. I never had managed to shake my accent, even in different languages. "Shall I, ah," the young man fumbled at that point, clearly not accustomed to calling a guest to the phone in the lobby.

I took pity on him. "Is there another phone up there somewhere or can she borrow yours? It will take less than two minutes, sir," I added to make him feel like less of an incompetent.

"S _i, signore. Grazie, signore_."

The next voice I heard was Bella's. " _Grazie. Ci vorrà solo un momento_." _Thank you. I'll only be a minute._

She turned, and her words were soft and rapid, beyond the reach of human ears. "Hello. So you made it all right?" The words were oddly enclosed in sound and I guessed she was sheltering her lips with her hands. I wondered why, but then realized that if Edward was at all curious as to why his wife was in the lobby of their hotel, he might be poking around in someone's head to keep an eye on her without telling her. It'd be like him.

"We did, yes."

"Where's Alice?"

"Out with a designer. Are we on for tomorrow?"

Her words were clipped, even at the speed we were conversing. "Forecast is for heavy clouds and intermittent rainfall. I will be due west of the town and find you there."

"Where's Edward?"

"Taking a shower. We hunted."

"And tomorrow?"

The pause was brief. "I don't know. He won't tell me."

 **J &A J&A J&A**

Alice thought I was going sightseeing. I was sightseeing. There were sights and I saw them. I hated lying to my wife. Hated it. But I understood (as Edward might not) that all is truly fair in love and war and this was a war so keeping Alice ignorant was fair. When the fecal matter hit the air propellant device, I wanted her to be clean of it all. I could only pray that if someone had to burn for this, it wouldn't be my Alice.

We weren't to see one another. Not in front of anyone, and since we couldn't tell who might be out there, we would stay away from each other. That was Bella's rule and I agreed wholeheartedly. After our place was invaded by who _knew_ whom, I wasn't taking any chances. Alice had seen Bella with us in Italy, but the phone call yesterday might have changed that. I hoped to hell it had. I could see for miles, but it was hard to pick my sister out from the rocky hillside where tourists and residents of Volterra sometimes went out to picnic.

I waited outside the town walls for a bit. The stone was brown in the cloudy light of mid-morning. People came and went, but I didn't see too many automobiles. Bicycles and motor scooters were popular. I had a vague sense of what I was waiting for as I dawdled with a cigarette in my fingers. It was lit but I didn't draw the smoke into my lungs. I had learned years ago that standing around with a map was a sure way to get attention. People did not, though, like to be around cigarette smoke. I would draw the smoke into my mouth and blow it out again. In patterns, to amuse myself.

Uncertain of how this would work with Bella being at such a distance, I processed the emotions of everyone around me. The hope of a young man with the girl at his side. The sexual frustration of an older woman eyeing a younger man who was with another woman. Anger. Despair. Grief.

 _Nothing_.

Bingo! It worked! I tossed my cigarette to the ground and rubbed its glowing tip off with the toe of my sneaker. Keeping my surveillance casual, I pulled a hat out of the small backpack I kept with me as a prop and pulled it over my head. It was broad-brimmed, as such things go, and I had it for two reasons. One, if the sun made an appearance, I wouldn't turn into a disco ball in the middle of Italy. Two, Bella would comprehend that I was shielded because I was _covered_. She and I were working on nonverbal communication.

I pushed my awareness out and my gift continued to come back blank. As had happened at that party a couple of years ago, I became a bit unnerved to feel nothing except my own emotions. The sexual frustration? Gone. Hope? Gone. Grief? Gone. Just me and my persistent worry about getting caught. I walked a bit around the exterior of the hilly town, feeling Bella's shield wax and wane. I moved my hat around as it did, pretending to wipe nonexistent sweat from my forehead and getting hair out of my eyes. She lost me entirely as I slid down a rocky spot outside the town walls. I guessed I was entirely beyond her perception of me by that point. To bide my time, I took out another cigarette and lit it, letting it dangle from my fingers as I looked up at the round towers above me.

Since I had the ability to feel what was happening, I stretched my awareness out, prepared at any moment to tug the hat back on my head and continue my journey. Instead, I felt surprise and exultation as if someone had just scored a superlative victory.

I swore under my breath and turned off at a slow, non-attention-grabbing jog and was reaching for my phone to call Bella and tell her the jig was up. The phrase was used back a hundred years before I was born, according to Carlisle who paid attention to these things as a matter of personal curiosity. There was no man alive or dead more curious than Carlisle Cullen. Phone in my hand, I was unsurprised when two things happened simultaneously. I ceased to feel that victory – which was damnable because now I needed to feel it to have an idea if it was moving toward me! – and my phone vibrated.

Alice. "Jazz! Where are you? I see you! You went sightseeing in the wrong place, lover boy. That man I saw is on to you. Whatever you do, stay the hell out of Volterra. Do not agree to go there. Wherever you are, get back to our hotel. Oh! No! No! Right now, Jasper Whitlock. Right the hell now."

"All right, hon. I'm on my way. Just keep it cool. Don't blow the cover."

I couldn't call Bella then, because it was apparently more urgent for me to get outta Dodge than it was to talk to her. She'd be all right, I guessed, since Alice didn't even mention _her_.

I couldn't run too fast, but I could run quickly enough, knowing that any pursuer would also be limited to either human transportation or human speed, I stayed off the roads and ran in as straight a line as I could back to Milan.

I only got about ten minutes out before I was collared.

That scent! Black olives, willow bark and sea salt with the sweetness that all vampires possessed. I knew that scent. Behind an outcropping of rock on the hill where we met, I growled deep in my chest, preparing myself to question this one who had invaded our temporary home.

"You!" The word fell from both our mouths at the same moment. I was disgusted and furious, he sounded thrilled and smug. I hated the man with the medium blond hair and darkly modern clothes. His hair formed an affected peak over his forehead that made me almost feel nauseated. Bizarre reaction, but there it was.

My emotions were back in force and I was hit full in my middle by the same combination of emotions I had felt before. "You were in my home."

"I called, but no one answered. A pity," he said, pretending to check his nails. "I had to meet you. My lord Aro insisted. It seems my friend Felix tried to find you before, but you had gone away on a business trip with your mate. How quaint. Her designs are quite lovely, you know. She's gifted."

His remarks on Alice's work left me feeling as if he'd violated my wife and the rage pulled at my muscles, urging me to rip off this man's head and leave it while I burned his body. But that would bring us even more attention and I had a little sister not too far away who might – lord! – have followed me.

Carlisle should have seen me, I calmed down so fast.

"What's your name?"

"Demetri. I am overjoyed to make your acquaintance, Jasper Whitlock Cullen. Tell me, how is the rest of your family?"

It was on the tip of my tongue to say, _"You tell me. I'm sure you're tracking all of us,"_ but I didn't. D _on't give away information without a return. Better for him to believe us ignorant of their spying._ Instead, I inhaled and scented rain. The smell relaxed me and I rolled my shoulders in a menacing manner. "I haven't seen them in quite some time. Years, in fact. Wasn't that the general idea?"

He nodded as if thinking about it. "Indeed. And indeed it seems that since that holiday debacle, you have been careful in your compliance. I am sure my lord Aro would wish to thank you in person. You and your talented mate..."

"Keep Alice out of this," I spat. I could feel venom start to pool in my mouth. If he threatened her more overtly...

He stepped back. "Why don't you join me, then? I am sure you'd like a tour of the inside of Volterra, Empath. What brings you here?"

"Sightseeing." _Give him nothing_ , I reminded myself. _Not one damned thing_.

"I could compel you," Demetri said next, but this emotion was merely a testing sort, tentative, not dominating. He didn't think he could take me on his own. Uncertainty crept in.

Not wanting to antagonize him – it was more important to return to Alice and make sure she got safely out of Milan before anything else went wrong – I rolled my hat up and tucked it in my bag. The sounds of cars reached my ears and I realized that we both had to be careful. Humans could be anywhere. "I think not. Not at this time. Perhaps you could come visit us again? Invited, maybe?" It was a hollow gesture, but I only meant to get myself out of trouble. And at home, I had the advantage.

"Hm. Well. I leave you to your...sightseeing. Be assured I will tell my lord Aro that you refused my invitation," he sneered. "Best run along now. You shouldn't keep that lovely wife of yours waiting. All alone. In a strange land."

I wanted to laugh in his face – my Alice could fight with the best, of course, since I had taught her myself – but I refrained. Instead, I nodded my head. "I'll do that. Give my best," I said with sarcasm dripping from my words, "to your lord Aro. I'm sure we'll all get together another time."

As if by some eerie signal, the Tracker and I parted ways there behind the brown boulder just as the rain reached us. A light shower, it was enough to give me an excuse to run perhaps faster than I would have otherwise.

 _Sorry Bella,_ I thought, unwilling to risk being seen making a phone call just now. I didn't know how many spies the Volturi had out here. I hope she had learned something, anyway.

Damn.


	5. Fifth Year 2022

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N: Welcome and thanks to all of you who are reading this story and its predecessor, FROM THE WINGS, and who are adding these stories to your lists. It's also GREAT to hear from you! I do answer every reviewer…and I have teasers for upcoming chapters… Mwahahah!**

**A/N: Welcome and thanks to all of you who are reading this story and its predecessor, FROM THE WINGS, and who are adding these stories to your lists. It's also GREAT to hear from you! I do answer every reviewer…and I have teasers for upcoming chapters… Mwahahah!**

 **Dante's _Divine Comedy_ and translation thereof from www. divinecomedy. org. Nope, not kidding. Please pardon Edward's need to rehash things down below... I know everyone has been worried about him.**

 **  
**

* * *

**Chapter Five - 2022**

 **Emmett POV**

"I think I'll call it _Vera Goes to Volterra_ ," Rosalie shot at me over her shoulder. "Give us a reason to go, you know? Business trip. And you need to quit too, Emm. I made you thicker glass frames and it's helped, but..." She shrugged.

I finished grading the paper in front of me and turned my chair to face her fully at her computer. "Rosie babe, you can call it anything but that and I'll be right with you. _Vera Has to Vomit. Vera on Vacation_..."

"Yes!" my wife shouted happily. "Yes, that's it exactly, brilliant man!"

I had to laugh out loud for real. This whole "Gee, Rosalie, why don't you try writing a book?" thing Jasper had pushed her into doing had transformed my smooth, cynical wife. I only wished the family could see it. Well, come to think of it, they would. I was going on a distance-education gig for the spring quarter at the Uni. Rose was right; I'd have to quit soon. I'd been here for four academic years and looked exactly the same. I had passed as late twenties when we moved here, but I could not pass for being in my early thirties. Last Christmas, we had emailed family pics to Jasper and Alice and they had tinkered with them and sent them all out to us as a big "family portrait." I'm into physics, not computer tweaks. It's not like I couldn't have done it – hell, it was fun to mess with video games – but I didn't want to take the time to convert pixels to more...pixels!

Besides, I think Jasper enjoyed rubbing the Volturi's collective schnoz into a pile of it. Alice "dressed" us all up and Jasper set our entire family up for a picture in front of a pic we had of our house in Forks. I think he took some shots from Edward and Bella's wedding. As a joke, I asked Jazz if he'd do another group shot of us on a beach in Hawai'i. He totally did! Of course, we're not sparkling on the sunny Hawaiian beach, but my Rosie sure looks amazing in the new bathing suit Alice put on her.

The only problem with the family portrait was how Edward and Bella looked in it. Something was not good, there. I wondered if that bondage thing wasn't working like Bells thought it might. _Maybe Eddie-boy just isn't keen on being tied up?_

"You're right, babe. I'll turn in my resignation while we're in Italy. I've got those three sections that I'm teaching over there and I'll just find some other position." Well, that's what I thought I could tell them, anyway.

My wife had a better idea. Scooting her chair on its wheels across the office to me – she must really have loved that title! – she grinned. "Better idea: Your wife has a best selling series and wants you to be a stay-at-home husband!" Her voice got husky and sultry as she slid from her chair to mine. "You want to just stay home for a while, Emm? Just you and me in some Italian villa...? Far from everyone?"

"Oh, yeah. I could totally go for that. But not in Italy, sweet thing." The idea gave me chills. "Not anywhere near Italy. I know we have to go right now but..."

After her initial disappointment caused her expression to fall, Rosalie smiled again. "I could write on Isle Esme, too..."

"Now that would be awesome."

"Let's talk to Carlisle and Esme about it when we see them." Her lips scrunched up in irritation. "I really would rather not have the Volturi know where we are for a few years. I mean – soon we can move back together right? Didn't Jasper and Edward have this whole ten-year plan thing?"

I held her tightly in my arms as I rose from my chair and headed toward the stairs. "They did, yeah. But maybe all that's changed." I didn't talk about it, but I was nervous. Kind of scared, really, but I didn't want to tell Rose that. We had spent years avoiding one another in order to avoid the Volturi. Next thing I know, Bella tells me she and Edward would be spending a _full academic year_ in Italy. Rome was hours from Volterra, but still!

Rosalie squirmed to get out of my arms once we reached the upper landing. "Why? What are you keeping from me? Aside from the 'Oh, let's study abroad' thing? Why do you think they're doing that?"

I shrugged and tugged her by the hand to our bedroom. "Beats the hell out of me, babe. Bells is doing that comparative lit stuff and decided to focus on Italian. I think she's trying to figure out our friends in Volterra, but I don't know why she'd want to. They give me the creeps." They did, too. Thing was, I was a physicist, not a psychologist. Figuring out the workings of a feminine mind was not in my job description. I only had the ability to get one female mind and that was Rosalie's.

She was apparently all done talking about her sister-in-law. My shirt was ripped off my body and we didn't come out of our room until it was time to pack for the trip.

 **E &R E&R E&R**

Bells did not run halfway across the concourse to meet me. Edward kept her by his side until we were already in earshot. I could see my little sister's drawn features and nervous posture. She was also rubbing Eddie's arm as if she were trying to make him feel better. I knew that look. It was the, "I'm sorry, I know I've been an idiot and I want you not to be mad at me anymore" look.

Damn. What the hell was going on with those two? I bet it had something to do with Bella and her shield. From years of living with the two of them, I remembered that Bella had felt very strongly about her privacy.

"C'mon, li'l sis! I just want to hear Edward. Not you. I swear, there is no prurient interest in this whatsoever," I had assured her about three years after her marriage to my brother.

"You can hear him just fine," she snapped. There was a reason I had waited to discuss this with her until her newborn strength had ebbed. She would have taken a finger of mine off my hand if she had still been strong enough. "Just because you and Rosalie –"

I held up my hand. "Don't start. This is about you and Edward."

"We're fine in my little silent bubble, Emm. Don't make me hurt you."

I went to pull her into a headlock and she wrapped her shield around herself so that my hands kept slipping off of her. She didn't want to hurt me, not really. She just wanted her space to herself.

Edward had never looked as happy as he did for those few years we were together. He had his mate, she was his wife, and my little brother was finally getting some. I couldn't help my curiosity about it, but Bells made it very clear that curiosity could kill a vampire.

So had she been keeping him out of her head? I couldn't imagine why else he'd look so morose, these days. The family portrait and now here in the airport…all I could see was a vague return of pre-Bella Edward.

That stank on ice.

Finally, he let her go and she stepped to me, one fist clenched as she took my hands. "Professor McCarty! It's so good to see you!" As she slipped her fingers out of mine, I noticed a slip of paper she left with me before wrapping her arms around me in a light embrace. "We haven't all been together since that party, right? I'm looking forward to catching up."

She turned from me to greet Rosalie and seemed to stumble a bit over the toe of my shoe. I caught at her, of course, and in doing so had to turn a little. I noticed – because I'm not as dumb as I look – that the angle I used to catch her also turned the hand that had the note in it away from Edward's eye. He was, of course, instantly alert to Bella's near-tumble.

Not being stupid, I tucked the slip of paper into my pocket. I later noticed my fingers smelled like Edward's venom.

Isabella Cullen was a really sneaky woman.

On the slip of paper she had written in Italian an excerpt from Dante's _Divine Comedy_. Again, with the Italian! Her letters were so tiny that only a vampire could have picked them out as anything except a doodle in the shape of an Ionic column.

Poscia rispuose lui: «Da me non venni:

donna scese del ciel, per li cui prieghi

de la mia compagnia costui sovvenni.

Ma da ch'è tuo voler che più si spieghi

di nostra condizion com'ell'è vera,

esser non puote il mio che a te si nieghi.

Questi non vide mai l'ultima sera;

ma per la sua follia le fu sì presso,

che molto poco tempo a volger era.

Sì com'io dissi, fui mandato ad esso

per lui campare; e non lì era altra via

che questa per la quale i' mi son messo.

 _Then answered him: I came not of myself; a lady from Heaven descended, at whose prayers I aided this one with my company. But since it is thy will more be unfolded of our condition, how it truly is, mine cannot be that this should be denied thee. This one has never his last evening seen, but by his folly was so near to it that very little time was there to turn. As I have said, I unto him was sent to rescue him, and other way was none than this to which I have myself betaken._

I didn't get a chance to read it until that evening, which was probably a good thing. In order to keep Peeping Ed out of my freakin' head, I replayed the thirty-two hours of playtime with my wife in my head. Almost had to drag it out to real-time, too, because Edward isn't stupid, either.

Until then, I kept it in my pocket and we all "caught up" at Edward and Bella's villa about thirty-some miles outside of Rome. It was small, as such things went, but gorgeous. Technically, the place slept six people and there were eight of us. Edward and Bella gave up their room to Carlisle and Esme for the time that we would be gathered here.

"Why're we here again?" I asked Carlisle that evening. Though it was February, we were all in the pool. It wasn't like the cold bothered us, though I had read that the Italians called February "short and accursed."

My sire grimaced and darted a quick glance around. Tension flared from him briefly before he closed his eyes and seemed to focus. "You mean other than the fact that Aro wished to meet with us?"

"Why?"

I had to chuckle in spite of the serious subject matter when Carlisle rolled his eyes. I swear he picked that up from Edward. "Jasper's idea of sending Aro the Cullen Family Christmas might have had something to do with that."

"Quit blamin' this on me!" Jasper called from across the pool. He sliced through the water to Carlisle's other side and shook water out of his hair. The three of us looked very human, I thought, with our elbows over the side of the pool, feet kicking idly in the water. "Just because I sent him that card did not mean he had to call a meeting. Faulty logic, mister college prof."

"Don't start with me on the professor crap," I began. "You're doin' the same thing."

Carlisle laughed a little. "Sons, they do not teach logic nearly enough in today's university systems. Neither of you are approaching this –"

"Oh, I so don't need to hear this," I began, splashing Carlisle from behind. Got his hair all wet, too.

"Emmett!"

Jasper didn't miss a beat. "Nice one, brother!" He followed through with a quick wave of water that hit Carlisle's face like a tsunami hitting a small island.

"Jasper!"

"C'mon, guys!"

At Bella's voice, our playful roughhousing – rough pooling? – ceased immediately. I felt a sort of strident anticipation in the air. That kind of feeling you get when you take a class out to do the egg-drop from the top of the Student Center around the Urban Life Connection and you're waiting on the bottom for the eggs to drop and break. Jasper, Carlisle and I jerked to a halt before almost standing at attention in the pool, waiting to see what she would say next.

That was awkward. Bells just stood there, her hair loose over a sweater and jeans, as if it really were winter – which of course it was. The rest of us, saving Edward, were in the pool. The water was actually warm in comparison to the air. Edward and Bella must have heated it a little.

"How are you, my dear?" Carlisle began, his tone stilted and his words having a tone to them that reminded me of secrets.

"Fine, Carlisle." She didn't look at Jasper, but turned her attention to me. "Get settled and everything all right?" she asked.

Her nerves were practically vibrating and I understood immediately what she wanted to know. "Yeah, li'l sis. All set. Thanks." _Thanks for confusing me with more of Dante's poetry. Something else for my head to work on._ At least she hadn't asked about any further metal hybrids...

Jasper hitched himself out of the pool and extended one dripping hand to her. "Bella, I'm sorry."

"Me too," was all she whispered before turning away.

Carlisle and I both stared at Jasper. "What was that all about?"

He didn't answer right away. Then, finally, he shook his head and got up to get his towel. "Long story," he said over his shoulder. By then, Bella and Edward had melted back into the house.

* * *

 **Edward POV**

I felt as if I were falling apart. At least Bella had the courtesy not to join everyone else in the pool. I don't know that I could have handled that with equanimity.

Italy had not been altogether kind to me. To my marriage. To Bella.

It was this last that had me more puzzled and aching than anything. I had been worried, yes. Suspicious, jealous. But when we had first come here to study at her behest, I was optimistic. Whatever it was she was doing that involved Jasper was moot, I felt, because he and Alice were in New York and our communications were not secure. Jasper would not compromise security for any reason. Certainly not for an extra-marital tryst with my wife. His sister-of-kind.

Then Alice called me one day after our arrival. "Hey! Can I talk to Bella?"

I was at the Trevi Fountain, along with hundreds of other tourists. The sky had been overcast in Rome and I had planned on taking a day to walk about by myself. Which struck me as a particularly hopeless thing to do, but I was trying to show Bella how I was feeling, being shut off from her as I was. We had spoken about her shielding her mind so continuously, but it had been years since she had let me in at any time other than when we had sex.

I could barely bring myself to call it "making love" at that point; I felt as if a part of her was shut away from me, making our times together pleasurable, but not intimate. This distance encompassed our whole lives, I felt. Talking had done no good, so I had determined to go sightseeing alone for one day. To give her the sense of distance I had. To make myself unreachable.

Well, not entirely. I had my phone. We were mere hours from Volterra and I knew that meeting Bella was one thing Aro wanted...

But Bella didn't call. Alice did. "She's not here. I am guessing you know that already."

Alice made a pouting sound. "I suspected, but I don't always see her, you know? Do you think she's able to hide from my gift with her shield, too? Her mind is silent to you, and when she was changed Jazz couldn't feel her. Maybe she's growing with her shield? So that I can't see her?"

The idea simultaneously amused and terrified me. I had always expressed the dichotomy of emotions with which Bella's mental silence imbued me, and my family had sympathized but they had also laughed at my absolute inability to access my wife's mind without her cooperation. When Jasper lost his touch with her, too, I had laughed at him in turn. But Alice had thought it was amusing...

Perhaps I would have the last laugh after all?

"I don't know," I said in answer to her question. "We really haven't talked about that." We hardly talked about anything that wasn't school or hunting related. I couldn't bring myself to ask too deeply about what was going on with Jasper, Emmett and Carlisle. She didn't volunteer information. But it hurt her. Whatever it was was hurting her. I could see it in the perpetual shadows in her eyes...

And she wouldn't share her pain with me. Another knife blade in my dead heart.

"So how's New York?" I asked idly, watching more tourists smile vapidly for pictures.

"We're in Milan! I'm meeting with the top designers at Deveria today! It's so amazing, Edward. So I thought that maybe Jazz and I could meet up with you and Bella, you know, before we have to go back?" I could just see my sister all but dancing with excitement. "I'd recommend halfway for a get-together, but that'd be, like, Volterra."

"Uh, no. I don't want Bella anywhere near there."

"Believe me, none of us want to be anywhere near there. Just ask Jazz. He's off sightseeing today and –" Her voice cut off abruptly before she started swearing. If I hadn't been so instantly tense and frightened, I would have laughed as I often did when she started. "Edward. I gotta call Jasper."

"Bella...?" My first and last concern was for her, always. I loved her. More than ever. And I needed to get back to her. Before my sister could answer me, I was on my way back to the hotel.

"No. But one of the Guard is going to find Jazz and I gotta let him know."

"Well, call him! Call later and let me know what happened!"

I walked rapidly through the streets of Rome, ignoring the thoughts of tourist and resident alike. All I wanted was to return to the hotel and to my wife. Being away from her, even for a few hours, had been harder on me than I anticipated. I didn't know what she was hiding from me, but I could not exacerbate the pain I felt by trying to hide from her, even in so basic a way as taking myself off for the day. Bella returned perhaps two hours later, looking worn and exhausted.

 _What exhausted a vampire?_

When I inquired, she only said she had been sightseeing.

Alice had said _Jasper_ had been sightseeing.

Jasper was too far away for me to read his mind and Bella's was closed to me. I had to put it behind me. Along with the myriad other mysteries that had crept up since the family had split in 2018.

Since that day, Bella had been subdued. We drove in to Rome every morning and home every evening, like any commuting couple. She was in touch with her faculty advisor from Dartmouth as was I. We hunted and played and I think we even _made love_ sometimes, instead of just having sex.

But then, Christmas came and Jasper and Alice were playing with their electronic toys and the next thing we knew, we were all "asked" to be together in Italy. Aro wanted us to come to Volterra. Carlisle negotiated.

And they were coming here. To Sabina, Rieti.

Bella didn't speak to our brothers or to Carlisle very much, which was troubling and reassuring. Troubling because I wondered if they had hurt her in some way – foolish as it was of me to worry about this, Bella's complete withdrawal from everything since Christmas was uppermost in my thoughts. When she returned indoors after a moment by the pool, I joined her.

"I'm scared," she whispered, her voice soft and low as she stared into the white porcelain sink of the unused kitchen. She was leaning against the tile, motionless and pale in the white room. In response to her words, I slid my arms around her and was gratified when she leaned into me – it felt like a silent trust she was giving me. "It's all my fault, Edward. All of it. I'm so sorry..."

"What's your fault today, my love?" I lowered my head until my lips were just brushing her ear. With the phenomenal hearing my family had, any private conversations had to be breath-only. Unless Bella chose to lift her shield. I had given up on that happening outside our bedroom. It had been years... "I'd say it's Jasper's fault more than anything. After all that talk about lying low, he had to pull a stunt like he did with the Christmas cards."

I felt my wife laugh lightly against me and I relaxed a fraction. "Okay. But this whole thing is still... If we had found some other way, Edward, to fight those men –"

"Enough." That the women had been attacked a few years ago without their mates to defend them had plowed into all of us in various ways. "It was not your fault any more than it was any of ours. And in the end, it's really Aro's for being so determined to believe everyone thinks as he does."

I could feel tension drain from her body as she considered my words. "Fair enough. I just think it's wrong that he has this kind of power, you know?"

"The power to make decisions for us?"

"Yes. It's not right."

"I'd rather heed his words than see you in any further danger, beloved. You know that, right?" I needed her to know how important she was to me. Had she forgotten? Had I taken her for granted at all during those years we lived with the family?

"Careful," she breathed, reminding me that we had let our voices grow too loud. "He'll be here in a matter of hours and I can't – I can't keep your secrets for you." Turning in my arms, she embraced me fully, her body pressing itself to my own. She fixed her eyes on my face, and I could almost feel the weight of her gaze. A nearly tangible caress that went a great way toward reassuring me. "I love you, Edward Cullen."

I closed my eyes and wrapped myself around her. "I love you too, Bella Cullen."

She pulled my head to hers and melded her lips to mine and I was, for a time, blissfully uncaring of the family at the pool or of the Volturi in transit to our rented farmhouse.

 **E &B E&B E&B**

"I feel as if I know you all," Aro said. His voice was reptilian, to my mind. His thoughts were blanketed with cold triumph as we stood together in the open living-dining room area of the farmhouse. There were eight of us as the Cullens were temporarily reunited. The Volturi numbered only four; as if they felt they had the need to just bring enough men to match ours. Or perhaps only four vampires could fit inconspicuously in one car. Aro and Caius representing The Three and Felix and Demetri to provide the muscle, I surmised from gathering their most immediate thoughts. Felix sized up Emmett and put himself closest to my largest brother. Demetri stood in front of Jasper and Alice, smirking. Caius was the most obviously hostile in terms of body positioning and thought-stream. He wanted us all to be set on fire for our insolence in the matter of The Human, as he thought of it. And Aro...

 _Aro is way too happy, Edward_ , Jasper thought in my direction.

I nodded, for I could see that to a degree. I wrapped my arm more tightly around Bella. She touched my hand at her waist and nodded a little. I sensed that she was concentrating hard on something and I wondered what it could be.

Aro spread his hands out as if to placate us. He seemed even more pale than the average vampire, though how that would be possible I didn't know. His hair was like oily onyx, his eyes a rich wine, his clothing nondescript for a February day. "Carlisle, my friend," Aro said, beckoning to the man I sometimes called Father. "It's been too long." I watched, my awareness wrapped up in Aro's mind as he took Carlisle's hand and shuffled through my sire's memories as if they were Rolodex cards. Carlisle's uneasiness grew when Bella entered the memory-file.

"Naughty naughty, old friend. Allowing a human intimacy with your coven..."

I recognized Felix in Aro's retinue. We nodded to one another. Another man was there too and I saw the way he smirked at Jasper.

 _Demetri_ , my brother hissed mentally. _The Tracker!_ And I saw a flurry of images. A walled town, a hillside. A rounded tower. Fear! Protective worry about – his hat? _What?_

And then a wall. Just a wall and the smoke of a cigarette and then the face of this member of the Guard. Demetri. I tried to follow Jasper's thoughts to see if I could perceive some sort of advantage to our current situation, but Aro claimed my entire attention.

He extended his hand next to Bella. "Welcome to Immortality, dear Isabella. So our Edward made you one of us, did he? I hear from ... sources that you've a shield to keep attackers at bay, young one. Come show me."

A spot of levity in our meeting came into being. Everyone in the family smirked at Aro and the Volturi as Bella stepped gracefully forward, hand extended. She had, of course, heard all about Aro from Carlisle so she knew what to expect.

Aro did not, but he ignored our half-smiles as if we weren't even there. "There we go, dear child," he purred at my wife while caressing her hand in both of his. "Hm." The sound was short with dissatisfaction.

I saw Bella's expression through Aro's mind. Her face was impassive but she was swallowing venom down in a nearly constant cycle. I moved up behind her to place my hands on her shoulders. "A problem?" I had the audacity to ask.

Aro flickered a look at me. "Not at all. I was not prepared for how...comprehensive your mate's shield is, Edward." Before I could sidle Bella away from him, he reached for _my_ hand and I winced at the onslaught of his invasion into my memories.

Bella gasped and clung to me, her slender arms pressing me through my shirt, her fingers kneading my flesh where my shirt had become untucked from my trousers. I could sense her breath coming in short, bursts, a sweet scent that soothed me, somehow. And I needed soothing, for Aro was relentless.

His eyes widened in voracious gratification as my memories became his in a rapid-fire sequence. My change, the discovery of my gift, the red-eyed years, the introduction the different members of the family over the years... And always, their thoughts and their memories. My aching loneliness. Composing nocturnes while I tuned out my family's nocturnal romps. Decades of this until one day a light shot across the darkness that surrounded me... And our separation. Our reunion. And the night I succumbed to her body, the night I succumbed to her wish for immortality... I hated that these private moments were displayed for him to see without a filter, without a shield. I hated that Aro also was privy to my private misgivings about my wife and her fidelity. The suspicions I had harbored concerning my brothers and even Carlisle. My muscles ached to rip Aro's all-knowing head from his spindly shoulders to erase any outward knowledge of these deeply private thoughts.

"Bella..." Aro breathed her name like a prayer. "And look at you, now," he said, beaming at me as if he were the proud father of twins. "Beautiful, my dear. And so powerful." _Oh, Edward, you chose so well. I could ease your mind on several counts, you know,_ he offered silently. _For a price._

"No!" It wasn't even a temptation. I jerked my hand from Aro's, fighting against the urge to wipe it off on my trousers. Bella wasted no time in pushing us back a couple of paces and placing herself in front of me. That was my wife all over – seeking to stand between those she loved and any perceived dangers when she could, whether or not her presence would have any material benefit. Aro continued to stare at her, a possessive light in his eye that did not go unnoticed. Emmett and Jasper stepped forward to flank me, while Alice and Rosale and Esme flanked them. We were a closely-knit line, with Bella in the middle.

"You can see, I'm sure," Carlisle interposed when I made no further answer to him, "since you delved into _Edward's_ memories, that we have been doing as you...requested." Aro smiled noncommittally and Carlisle continued. "I don't understand why you felt it necessary to call us together only to disperse us again." _Edward what do you see of his thoughts? Will he relent or does he have a lower purpose?_

Aro was visualizing Bella and Alice in the dark robes of the Guard, surrounded by Felix and Demetri and another man Aro unconsciously named Marcus. I shook my head in the long-practiced way Carlisle and I had of communicating. So subtle were we that even our own family did not generally heed us. Aro would not relent.

He confirmed that almost immediately. "Well, my dear friend. Old friend. I am always seeking to do the very best for our kind, as you know. We remain a widely-spread secret due mainly to my diligence and the diligence of those who are with me," he said smoothly, his hand sketching out an arc as if he were an evening-dressed woman on an old television game show. _Have you reached into the minds of your brothers, Edward? Have you seen their memories of your wife? Are you sure_ you _would not be more at peace if she were with me? If you joined us? The two of you?_

Revulsion spread through me like cold blood. I had looked into their minds – he knew I had. I had seen...flashes. Flashes I would sort through when this immediate threat was handled.

It would be handled, I was certain.

"I wanted to offer you an opportunity to regroup, but I am afraid my offer will fall on deaf ears." He managed to sound a little sad.

Carlisle shot a glance at me and I sent him a negative one in return. "Very possibly, my friend. What is it?"

"As you know, I have been concerned about the strength of your coven for quite some time. I had hoped that you would develop into independent, more traditional vampires as you lived apart but that is not going to happen, I can see." Aro clasped his hands in front of him and smiled benignly upon all of us. "So I would propose that the Seer and Empath join us now, with Edward and his Isabella joining us as soon as they finish their degrees. We would not want them to just disappear, would we?" He smiled again. That reptilian sense of him that I had did not diminish.

 _He's sincere_ , Jasper informed me subtly.

Alice's mind was a blank, but then just random flashes of our family. Aro might visualize them in Volterra, but Alice saw that no path was taking her and Jasper there at this time.

She quirked a brow at me behind Jasper's back. _Edward? I don't ever see you going there, but...?_

I considered it, just so her mind could work with that situation, and then I saw myself kneeling before Aro...While Bella was restrained by something, her eyes covered and her hands wrapped in a cable of some sort...? Emmett's cable?

"No!" I rasped, holding my wife more tightly against me. "Not for anything, Aro."

Carlisle shot me a nearly desperate glare. _Edward! Now is not the time to challenge him!_

I ignored him and focused on the Guard. Demetri was cataloguing our mental presences so he might be able to track us another time. Great. Felix was assessing how many of us he could take on alone if necessary. Caius was wondering how far a bonfire would be seen here on this hill if he could persuade his brother that we were indeed dangerous. I caught his eye and shook my head, reminding him that I could follow his thoughts at will.

Emmett was measuring himself against Felix, and I was amused that the two of them were so similar. Jasper was evaluating all possible means of attack and defense while the Volturi were within sight of his wife. Carlisle just wanted them to go away and he was already thinking of how soon we could at least live in the same state again. Rose wanted to take Demetri's face off. Apparently he bore some slight resemblance to Royce King. I winced inwardly. Alice was flying through the future possibilities and Esme hoped that the interlopers, as she deemed them, would crash and burn on the way back to Volterra.

I had to choke back a chuckle at that.

A mere second had passed since I had refused Aro's "invitation." Aro beckoned to Caius and the two of them touched hands for a moment. Then, Caius took the center position. "The offer stands. You shall remain dispersed and refrain from future meetings unless we call them or we will deem you to be accepting our generous offers. Permanently or at our pleasure. Is that understood?"

We all looked to Carlisle, who stiffened. We are not your servants! he thought. Aloud, he merely murmured, "We completely comprehend, Caius. Then I suppose we shan't see you until you wish to be seen. Have a pleasant drive back to Volterra. And please give my best to your mates."

The Volturi had arrived shortly after midnight and it was barely one in the morning when they climbed into their dark sedan and drove slowly down the winding road to the main highway.

"I need a drink," Jasper said. "Anyone else up for a hunt?"

"Go ahead," I offered. "I need to...process."

They understood that after such a mental onslaught I would benefit from silence. I looked to Bella to see if she would stay with me, but her eyes were so dark, so very dark, I couldn't ask her to. The tension had drained her more than I had expected. "I'll stay," she assured me, holding my hand tightly in her own.

I shook my head and brought her hand to my lips. "Go, love. You need to hunt." I had no qualms about her leaving with my brothers and their mates...truly. I felt I would indeed benefit from solitude while they all hunted. "I'll see you soon."

She kissed me quickly as our family dispersed to change their clothing. They left in a thoughtful sort of sound wave, conversations and ideas moving among them like shoppers at a bazaar.

After they left, I walked about the house, drawing comfort from the various familiar scents. I paused at one of the guest rooms and was unsurprised that Emmett's trousers were on half on and half off the floor. I didn't think about it. I merely stepped to them and drew them up to fold them in half over the back of a chair.

And a slip of paper fluttered out. I picked it up because my scent came to me. My scent and a trace of Bella's as well as Emmett's.

How odd.

There was a doodle on it that looked like a stone column, but I could see that lines did not make up the outline. It was words.

Part of Dante's Divine Comedy. In Italian. In the tiniest letters imaginable, I saw that the final edge of the picture was this line: _As I have said, I unto him was sent to rescue him, and other way was none than this to which I have myself betaken._

I stopped breathing and had to mentally keep myself from running out of the house and tracking my wife down like a lion after his prey. _Bella. What are you doing?_

 _And with whom?_


	6. Sixth Year 2023

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N: Thank you so much for the adds to your lists and for reading this little mystery story! Thanks ESPECIALLY to all who review! I love to hear from you! This is an EARLY UPDATE for reasons that will be explained later. See you down below!**

**A/N: Thank you so much for the adds to your lists and for reading this little mystery story! Thanks ESPECIALLY to all who review! I love to hear from you! This is an EARLY UPDATE for reasons that will be explained later. See you down below!**

 **  
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**Chapter 6 - 2023**   
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**Jasper POV**   
_

"What is with you and that stupid hat, Jasper Whitlock?" Alice and I were at the First Ladies' Evening Gowns exhibit at the Smithsonian. It was a collection that came and went and its main draw for me was not the evening wear nor the opportunity I would also have to see some new Civil War memorabilia that had been unearthed, cleaned and catalogued in the last few years. The draw for me was strategic. I was working with Bella again. We had managed to do this a few times, unbeknownst to anyone.

I tried to play the hat thing off. "Oh, I got used to messing with it outside, you know." Outside, where Bella was playing her new game of Flipping Jasper's Switch from whatever hidden perch she had chosen. I tucked the hat in the back pocket of my pants and sent out my emotive fingers and got nothing. Damn, but my little sister was improving. Got me while I was _inside_ the Smithsonian. I had to grin while I stood behind Alice. She was looking at strapless evening gown from the Michelle Obama Collection and didn't notice. I didn't feel her emotions though, so maybe she had and counted on my noticing? Hell, that might get complicated. I grimaced and then, suddenly, the shield was gone.

Alice was content. The couple to my right was bored, and the children here on a school trip were hungry. All was normal in my world again.

Until I got a text.

 _I tracked her here. I have your scent. I have Alice's. I lost hers. Where is she? - E_

 _I haven't seen her. When'd you get here? -J_

 _Last minute decision. Where are you? -E_

I had to chuckle as I reviewed our texts. Alice felt my unshielded emotive burst and turned, curious. I showed her the last text and she slipped my phone from my hand and, beaming, made a bee-line for the nearest exit, texting all the while. Oddly enough, she didn't stand out at all amongst the humans we walked among in the museum. Several young people were doing exactly the same thing at nearly her speed.

It was overcast over Washington D.C. this early summer day. All of us Cullens (and Whitlocks and McCartys) had all been very cooperative in the eyes of the Volturi. Part of me bristled because Edward, by meeting with us openly, was visibly breaking the agreement of sorts that had been forged in Italy the previous year. Alice and I were forfeit to the Volturi – according to _them_ – if we met again.

That was only until we figured out a way around that. Or until Bella, blast her eyes, got enough practice under her bustle that she could do whatever it was she was planning on doing. I wonder how much Edward had picked up from her? Had she opened her mind to him at all? Had he had the opportunity to ask her things in that way he had? The man was an excellent interrogator, for all he didn't always want to know what people were thinking. I'd give him that. His old "What is it you don't want me to know?" trick had worked on me. Even when I hadn't said anything, the things I'd wanted to keep hidden had floated through my thoughts and revealed themselves to him.

We saw him in front of the building and I checked in with him. _Edward. She's not here. I haven't seen her, I'm telling you. What do you mean, you lost her scent?_

"Alice asked me the same thing," he murmured, scanning the milling people that crisscrossed over the wide cement avenues and either headed to another building of the Museum, patronized a covered kiosk for a hotdog, or were heading off to the subway. "I tracked her to Washington Monument but then her scent – it evaporated or something."

Alice gasped in surprise and I remembered to look as if I were surprised too – but it took me too long and my brother accosted me with a severe slashing of his gaze. I felt the pulse of angry determination from him and winced visibly.

"Jasper Whitlock. I cannot believe you." Alice slapped my arm – hard – right there on the avenue. "We really need to talk about this _secret_ stuff."

"Yes. We do," Edward ground out. Betrayal came from him with jagged edges of hurt and brotherly affection and despair. "Let's move, shall we?"

"What about Bella?" Alice whispered, linking her hands with my elbow and Edward's as if we were all one big happy family. "Jasper?"

"I doubt she'll be joining us." I didn't look at Alice, but tried to reach out with my emotional sensors and found myself blocked. I suppressed my smile; didn't want to make Edward mad or anger my lovely wife. "How was graduation?" I said instead to my brother. "Sorry we couldn't make it," I went on, remembering another one of Bella's emails. She had been pouting in it – in her own way. She wanted the Volturi to know no one was coming to see her get her first doctorate. "But you know how it is."

"Indeed." The block was removed and I could almost feel Edward poking around in my head. "So you know she's here but you don't know where and you haven't seen her. What the hell, Jasper?"

"Privacy. We aren't supposed to be together, remember? Where are you staying?"

"We've relocated to New Market. Small town, wooded. The usual. Bella was unpacking boxes while I scouted for the usual game trails and when I got back –"

I nodded, frowning. Edward's anger was invisible on his face, but I could feel it arcing out all around him, stretching to hit me as if it were an independent beast of its own. Still, I could also feel him reining it in; he didn't want me to feel it exactly. Complicated man. He – he wasn't throwing blame my way. Interesting. His frustration and anger were primarily for his wife. As was the new pulse of worry that I felt.

We worked our way, walking at a medium human pace, back toward the Washington Monument. I was both admiring my sister-in-law's cunning at staying the hell away from her husband right now and frustrated with her for doing the exact same thing. _Where are you, Bella Cullen?_

I imagine that she wasn't blocking my empathic abilities because doing so would clue her husband in as to what she was practicing. So I kept my mouth shut about it when Edward indicated a bench we should all gather around. Bella's scent was gone.

Alice was practically bouncing with impatience. "Edward! What's going on? Where's Bella? Jasper? Where is she? I cannot believe I can't see her!"

"You don't look too surprised," Edward told me, his gaze level. He brought one foot up to the bench and leaned lightly in that direction. We had all mastered the art of apparent humanity. "I think we should put our cards on the table, brother." His voice was mild enough, but I could sense the hard plane of purpose he was projecting. "For some reason, my wife has decided to trust you more than she trusts me. Sorry, Alice," he continued, placing a light hand on her shoulder. "I don't mean to be unpleasant."

I felt Alice's confusion and hurt slicing into me. "No, I'd like to know, too. Does this have to do with your little sightseeing trip in Italy?"

"What _sightseeing_ trip?" Edward froze in place before shaking his head and reaching into his pocket for something.

I sighed and let myself remember the "sightseeing" trip to Volterra, concentrating on what I saw and not what I felt. Towers. People. The smoke from my cigarette. The pulse of exultation from the Tracker. The remembered rain of the end of the Demetri encounter and the run back to Alice.

And the hat. I remembered the hat.

"Same hat?" Edward asked, looking puzzled and irritated.

I pulled the low-crowned, broad-brimmed microfiber hat from the back pocket of my jeans. "Yep. So, did you get all that?"

"Yeah, except for what you were doing there. Alice?" He somehow – imagine – got the idea that I was less than forthcoming. "What did he tell you?"

" _He_ is right here," I snapped before Alice could say anything. Thing was, I was at a disadvantage with the two of them so I did my own particular brand of communication while they were doing their mental stuff. She'd think at him, he'd plan back and she'd see what would happen. Like their chess games. Strategy was not something either of them had to work at to win.

Abruptly too annoyed to deal with them, I swamped them both with a dose of hysteria, turned on my heel and strode away as they giggled and guffawed behind me. Tossing thoughts in my mind of the Southern Vampire Wars to annoy Edward, I put the rest of my brain to work wondering where Bella had taken herself that afternoon.

 **J &A J&A J&A**

"Let's try this again," Edward said, blowing past me in our hotel room, Alice in tow. "She's seen us having this discussion, but she hasn't seen how it turns out because you haven't decided to talk. So what is it," he went on, and I braced my brain against the inevitable question, "that you're not telling me?"

He smirked, so I knew he wasn't too mad at me for leaving him and Alice earlier. In our room in D.C. he tossed a scrap of paper to the table, as well as a sample of some sort of metal and what appeared to be a printout of some sort. Alice picked up the soft scrap of paper. There was a slightly parchment-crinkly sound to it. But only slightly. As if it used to be parchment, but that had been a decade of handling ago. _What is it?_ I asked him purposefully in my head.

He "heard" me. "Found it in Emmett's pants."

"Ew!" Alice gagged. "That was so _not_ , Edward."

I felt the amusement sliding from our brother and grinned on a slant. "I'm guessin' that it isn't something math-ish or something? Looks like art from here. A column?"

"Ionic," Alice mused, and it's all made out of Italian... _Ah_. Who?"

"Bella," Edward and I said on the same breath.

"Did she give you one?"

 _No_.

He nodded. "So this part was for our brother. In Italian."

My mind went too fast to stop to the copy of the _Divine Comedy_ Bella had given me for New Years a while back. _Sorry, Edward_.

His mouth opened and he just stared at me, disbelief rolling off of him. "What. The. Hell?"

I tossed up walls in my head and reached out with my inner sensors to pick up the sliced and dissected amusement and caution that came from Alice as well as the jealousy and return of the anger from Edward. And then – there was nothing.

For just a pulse. Just a breath. I felt nothing at all and I knew Bella was there. Her name flew across my mind but Edward didn't seem to hear that. And then, I felt him and Alice again and I knew Bella had gone. Not that she had lost me – obviously she hadn't – but I just sensed she was gone. I felt a subtle, soft wafting of apologetic feelings from somewhere above me and knew exactly where she was – or had been.

Exhausted for some reason, I collapsed on the bed, my feet still on the floor, and stared at the patterned flocking of the ceiling. I held out my hand and Alice took it without hesitation. I tugged her against my side as I remained on my back. Edward settled into a chair. I had watched vampires among vampires for over a century and a half and had never seen anyone act more human than the Cullens did when there weren't even humans watching.

"All right. I don't know what she's planning, Edward." Alice sniffed with some affected irritation and I pulled her down to press a kiss to her skin before I continued. "Truth. She's been wanting me to help her, though, and she won't tell me why." I rolled my head to meet my brother's narrowed gaze. I could feel the curiosity and mistrust pulsing from him and didn't blame him a bit; I was still hiding a lot from him. Bella had kept us in the dark as to what she was doing with each of us, so I had to figure she had a reason. I viewed her – odd as it was – as the ranking officer in the latest battle versus the Volturi and I would not betray my commanding officer. "I haven't met with her, but we have exchanged messages."

"How?" Alice demanded, smacking my abdomen with her palm. "You said we're being tapped! Our emails and phone calls and everything. I've been so careful, Jazz!"

Edward crossed his legs absently and his voice was distant and cool when he said, "Yes, I'd like to know too."

I checked the walls in my mind. "Morse Code."

Alice protested, sounding offended. "I never saw that!"

In spite of my concern for my mate's feelings, I had to chuckle a little before I propped myself up on my elbows to better see both Alice and Edward. "Our Bella is a very clever girl," I mused out loud for Alice's benefit. "She knows us all and I am thinking she's got something up her sleeves that will either be highly successful or," I stopped and finished the thought in my head: _Or get us all set on fire. Sorry, Edward._

"Or fail miserably," Alice concluded, not having heard my words but no slouch in her own right. "So she worked around my visions?"

"Morse Code is invisible, hon, if it's done like Braille. She knows how sensitive our fingertips are and so her coding was real subtle-like. Done through typed lines and –"

A burst of understanding hit me from Edward. "The copies of her thesis proposals and final thesis and all of that. She _insisted_ she had to send it to you hardcopy because she didn't want the Volturi picking it apart. That minx!" Admiration flared from him now, with sharp edges of amazement and love for his wife's ability to work the circumstances to her favor. "You know, she was pretty tricky as a human, too."

Alice and I both had a good laugh at that. "She had her moments," I conceded. "So she's been in touch with me and asking my advice on things."

"Tapping into your history," Alice said. I didn't disabuse her of the notion, but Edward was inhabiting my skull so I kept my focus on the _Divine Comedy_. "So Edward said he tracked her today? What was she doing?"

"I think she's practicing her recon skills," I ventured, keeping my mind on my idea of her skulking about the hills outside of Volterra to give Edward an idea. "And she's doing it while not meeting with me at all so that we won't be seen to have met if, hon," I went on with a heavy glance at Alice, "Aro gets his hands on any of us."

"Except Bella..." Edward breathed, apparently contemplating something. His emotions were muted now, and I wondered what he had going on in his head. Then, he emoted resolution. "All right, so she's been learning, what, recon skills from you, Jazz?" His flare of doubt did not go unnoticed, but we both let it go. I caught caution on a light undertone and understood that he was playing it safe for the sake of all of us, should Aro decide to shake hands with any of us again. "So what is it with Emmett?"

"There, ya got me," I told my brother. "Your wife never mentioned a thing about Emmett." I was curious and worried both. The idea of her asking _Emmett_ for _war planning strategy_ was just – stupid. And I loved Emmett. I did. The man was a brilliant mathematician and physicist and probably could teach chemistry too, though it wasn't something in which he had a degree. He had a heart bigger than anyone's I knew and the patience of a saint. (Hell, I loved my sister Rosalie, but I probably would have rendered her limbless at least once or twice and Emmett just kept loving her.) Entrusting the safety of our family to Emmett worried me.

Edward was amused and let me know it with a crooked grin. Damned stupid smile _was_ charming and even I knew it. "No, I hear you and agree, but no. I don't know what she's got going with him, but up until I found this paper in his pocket last year, I thought it was about sex."

"What?" Alice erupted, bouncing on the bed, distrust and confusion spiraling all over her. "Sex? Bella and Emmett? I've never even seen that! Is her shield, like, expanding?"

Edward and I shot quick glances at each other and I _felt_ more than _saw_ him shrug. "Honestly, Alice? She and I don't really talk about her shield, lately."

"Oh." Then, "She and I need some girl time, Edward. We need it."

I blinked at her non sequitur, but Edward only smiled. "If you can get her to go someplace, you have my blessing, Alice."

Before he left, just after dark, my brother approached me with an apology spiraling all around him. "Jasper, I need to say –"

 _No, you don't,_ I assured him silently. _I get it. I felt it all and I get it, I do. If my Alice were pulling some of Bella's stunts, I might not have asked questions first, you know?_ I offered him half a rueful smile. _So we're good, my brother. No worries. Go home to your wife and rock her world._

With a laugh, he left. I hoped he would follow my advice.

* * *

 _  
**Demetri POV**   
_

Felix's presence in my personal quarters was not my idea of an amusement. The human I'd just...enjoyed...was far more to my liking, but what of that? Felix's approach was palpable – I hated my gift sometimes – so I finished off the human and rolled her body against the wall. Someone would have to come dispose of her later.

"Demetri?"

"Yes?"

Felix's entrance into the room was as grand as he could make it. Why did he feel the need to be so, how did that phrase go? "Larger than life?" He was even wearing The Cloak. What an affected ass. "What?"

"It's time," he said as if it wasn't something we did regularly. "So come on. I can't do it without you."

"I know," I said, trying _not_ to sound as if I were annoyed. My lord Aro would take exception to that.

"Your cloak?" Felix prompted, indicating his by the sweep of his hand.

I rolled my eyes. "Must I? It's so...dramatic."

He looked past me to where my latest meal lay cooling on the stone floor. "No drama for you?" He inhaled with obvious distaste. "Ha. Please, Demetri. Honesty with yourself first and foremost."

I flashed across to my wardrobe for my own version of The Damned Cloak. "Fine. Let's go." We had a new duty to perform for our masters. Ever since the discovery of Jasper Whitlock of Carlisle Cullen's coven just outside our own walls, we had kept our observations even more pervasive than we had before. A weekly sweep of Volterra and the environs for a start – of course I was required, since I now could track all of them except the Shield – and a perpetual alert on the airports in and near Milan and Rome. When one of those was alerted, we made our forays more frequently.

And Alice Whitlock _Cullen_ had come to Milan, so we were on watch.

On our way out, I indicated to one of the newborns that I needed my room cleared of my recent meal and she said she'd see to it. And then, we heard a disruption in the Circle Chamber. Audience Room. Some of our newer members called it The Cafeteria.

"Give me your hand again," my lord Aro insisted, his voice hissing and dangerous.

Intrigued, Felix and I pushed through the heavy, iron-barred doors into the Chamber and watched from the back. Really, who would approach my lord Aro when he was in such a foul mood? Renata was up there with him. Sad thing for her, but our lord Aro was not going to give her a day off just because he was in a snit.

About what? A nomad had apparently wandered in – his clothes were a _sight_ – and he had news for my lord Aro. He extended his hand again, but this time the nomad was shaking in his faded trousers. Foolish fellow, trying to withhold something from the most comprehensive reader of minds since God himself!

"What are you hiding from me!" My lord Aro glanced up and saw Felix and me and beckoned, holding on to the nomad's hand in one of his and gesturing with the other. "Jog his memory, Felix!"

Happy to be asked to do so in front of so many witnesses – for when my lord Aro was angered, the entire town of Volterra knew of it – Felix strode across the Chamber, self-importance sitting on his rock-like shoulders with visible impact. He bowed. "Yes, my lord?"

"Well? Remind him what he owes me!"

Felix serenely placed his hands on either side of the nomad's unkempt head and twisted. Just a little. Enough so that the vampire shrieked, but nothing cracked audibly. "Do you remember now?" Felix growled.

"I'm telling you everything I know!" the newcomer yelled, his voice thick with fear.

Aro tried cupping the newcomer's face but I could tell that he was unsuccessful. "You must have some sort of protection," my lord Aro muttered. "That must be it. I won't have it. A better one is within my reach. Felix?" He flickered a glance to Felix and, without any ado whatsoever, Felix ripped the vampire's head off.

"Thank you. You may continue on your patrol." My lord Aro nodded to me and smiled shortly.

I bowed. "Thank you. We shall."

Felix and I left the Chamber and moved at our normal speed through the halls of the ancient edifice that was our home. Once outside its walls, I paused and cast my awareness out. Felix, not being thusly gifted, just stood there. I expected to take a mental whiff, as it were, of the town and then move outside the walls to repeat myself. Over and again for about a ten-mile radius, just as we always did.

But it wasn't to be a normal patrol. I sensed...her...and stiffened.

"Who?" Felix whispered as we took off at a fast walk. There were humans around, even in the light rain of this dusky time of day. We had appearances to pretend to maintain.

"Cullen. Alice Whitlock Cullen. The _Seer_."

* * *

 _  
**Carlisle POV**   
_

"Carlisle! Help!"

I was at the clinic in Iron Mountain, Michigan, just at the border of the Ottawa National Forest, when my phone rang. As summer was drawing to its end, the days were growing shorter, but it was still early in the afternoon when I got the call. "Alice?"

"They found me. I mean, I think they found me. I just hope it wasn't Bella. Do you have any idea of –"

"Alice! Focus!" I demanded, moving as quickly as I dared out of the main service hall of the medical clinic and into an empty examining room to shut the door between me and any prying ears. "And remember, we're being watched."

Alice's vocabulary deteriorated in exact proportion to her distress. Then, "Sorry. But Carlisle, they're after us. Well, me. I still can't find her!" Anger and frustration poured through the phone.

"Find who?"

"Her! My slippery little sister! Her! She got away from me and was there on her own – I think, but lord only knows if I'm right. I saw her for a split second and then nothing!"

I took a steadying breath, for I wasn't getting anywhere and I needed to do so. Alice was on the move, I could hear as she ran. A whistling, piercing sound was lightly muffled in between bursts of conversation. "Are you in danger right this minute?" I finally asked. If my heart were alive, it would have been racing with concern for my daughters. "Where are you? Where is _she_?" It was best if we didn't use her name, I imagined, if the Volturi did happen to be listening.

"We've been caught by their Tracker," Alice informed me, her voice meandering a bit as if she were moving her head around in the birdlike manner she sometimes adopted when under duress. "I didn't see it happening...I'm going to set her hair on fire, Carlisle, I swear."

"Alice," I admonished. Still, I could see her point.

"But I guess the Tracker didn't catch her, because he and that big one are after me!"

I regretted telling Bella anything at all about Volterra. What had she done?

"Oh, there she is!"

"Give me that!" I heard Bella's voice. "Carlisle?"

"How'd you know?"

I heard Bella grunt a little and then I heard Alice say, "Hey! Put me down!" but Bella was running and talking and carrying her sister and did not obey.

"Stay with me," Bella whispered. "Don't call Jasper or Edward. They'll come and get in all kinds of trouble, Dad."

So much for not mentioning her name. It flew out immediately. "And you're _not_? Isabella Cullen, what have you done? You promised me you wouldn't get caught!"

"Carlisle!" Alice squeaked at a little distance from the phone's sensitive microphone. "You knew about this?"

"Not exactly..." _Oh, God,_ please _get them out of there_ , I prayed silently. "Where were you staying, Isabella?"

"Milan. But I get that we're not going back to the hotel and we're coming home. Okay."

"You _will_ tell me what you thought you were doing, young lady."

"My clothes! Our things!" Alice let fly with another string of blue words that would have brought a smile to my face on any less-serious occasion. "Bella!"

"We'll call and have them shipped," Bella told her sister. "Let's go. Carlisle?"

"I want to see you the moment you have access to a computer. We have to talk."

"Yes, Dad."

I snapped my phone off and stood stock-still in the white and chrome examining room. What had they been doing in Italy? Did Edward and Jasper know they were there? Who had seen them besides Demetri? Had they escaped from Volterra itself? Was Aro going to try to impose a claim on Alice and Jasper?

"Oh, Bella," I whispered so softly that only a vampire could hear me. "What have you done?"

This seemed to be my refrain for at least the past five years.

* * *

 **A/N 2: I had to say thank you to the unknown person who nominated this story for Best Family Award at The Twilight Gem Awards. Please consider voting for this story at the contest:**

 **http : / www. gemawards. blogspot. com**


	7. Seventh Year 2024

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N: I wanted to say thank you to everyone who is taking the time to read this story! I am so enjoying hearing from you. I know a lot of you have questions…and I do have answers. I'm leaving them for you, I promise.**

**A/N: I wanted to say thank you to everyone who is taking the time to read this story! I am so enjoying hearing from you. I know a lot of you have questions…and I do have answers. I'm leaving them for you, I promise.**

 **It is said that things are always darkest before the dawn. I believe that to be true. It is the case, here. This chapter ends on a grim note…but all will be well. Eventually!**

 **See you down below!**

 _  
**Chapter 7 - 2024**   
_

_  
**Emmett POV**   
_

"Emm?"

"Yeah, babe?" I was toting our luggage to the boat. My Rosie had a book signing next week in the States and we were planning on staying there for a couple of years while she continued to write this series. _Vera on Vacation_ had been the biggest seller, and the new title, _Vera's Uncle Vern_ was looking to be another hit. The Kindle Edition had already amassed a huge pre-order.

"C'mere!"

I dropped the suitcases on the wooden slats of the raised porch and returned indoors. We had made over the second bedroom in Esme's cottage into Rosalie's office. I had spent time outlining a new physics text for children that I'd be presenting to a New York house after Rosalie's tour. We planned on staying with Alice and Jasper while we were there. "What's up?"

"Bella sent us an email. I opened it."

Worry flashed through my chest as I crossed to the desk and tapped the keyboard. "What's she got to say?"

"After congratulating me on the book, she is asking if we're going to be returning to the Island. And she asked if any of the buildings need to be reinforced against storms? Huh?"

"Probably a mass/force ratio question, Rose. Bella's never been really good with sciences."

"Is she back in school again? What, is she trying to pull in enough degrees to catch up with Edward?"

"Hey, at least she doesn't have to do high school time after time." I smiled over my shoulder at my lovely wife. "And I don't have to threaten any more barely pubescent mallrats for making crude gestures in your direction anymore, either."

Rosalie smoothed her hair and looked just amazing. She always did. Then, with a jerk of her chin to the computer, she said, "You know, she hardly ever writes you unless it's about something like this. What did she want a few years back? Bondage toys?" Rosalie's face wrinkled in her disgust. "Edward? Playing scenes? For real?" Then, she smirked a little with a gleam in her eye. "Do you think she and Edward are coming here next?"

I loved my wife and would always worship the ground she walked on and partly envy the animals she drank from, but she had a certain self-centeredness to her that didn't escape my attention. In part, this was a protective thing for her and I understood that. It was also a supportive concept. Like a good building requires a sturdy foundation and frame, her loyalty to her family was supported by this loyalty to herself. One thing about my Rosie that _had_ changed in the past few years – surprising as that was to us – was her ability to express this part of herself in some way other than disparaging people. Writing the books had given her a way to express empowerment through the character of her best human friend, Vera. It was cathartic and edifying.

Still, she and Bella rarely rubbed along smoothly. No one really knew why – though I had my suspicions.

I closed the email – I would have to puzzle over it and I didn't want to try to do that with Rosalie looking over my shoulder, waiting to finish loading the boat – and rose to kiss my wife briefly before returning to the luggage. The laptop should have been packed already, but the damage was already done. "Eddie and Bells out here on the island? I don't think so. They are the low men on the family totem pole, babe. You and me got together first," I reminded her while we both sped over the fine white sand to the moored yacht with arms filled with luggage. "So I'd nominate Jasper and Alice for the next stay on the family island."

"Well, not for a year, maybe," Rosalie mused as we walked back to the cottage hand-in-hand. We took the steps slowly, this time. She stopped halfway there and sighed happily as she studied what had been our home for a couple of years. "I'd love to spend time with them in New York. Jazz _is_ my brother, you know," she added with a smile in her voice.

"And Alice _is_ my sister," I said, waiting for her to decide when we would go back indoors and get the last of our things.

Instead, she turned to me, the full rays of the sun bouncing off the crystalline elements in our skin. It was something I hadn't noticed too much over at least the last year – it was so much a part of our daily existence I started subsuming it in my awareness. "You look amazing," I murmured, holding her a bit away from me and just enjoying her beauty. "I'm going to miss being here with you."

She slipped her hands from mine to cup my face. "Me too, Emmett McCarty. Though I bet I can be more productive in New York than I have been here." She smiled in a broad, bantering way. "Still, it'll be good to see Alice and Jazz." She frowned, then. "Wait. We're not really supposed to see them, are we? I mean, the Volturi said they'd be taken to Volterra if..."

"Another good reason for them to plan on coming here."

"Yeah."

 **E &R E&R E&R**

Out of deference to the humans milling about the store and who knew _what_ security devices were imbedded in the lights and public address systems, I kept my voice barely at vampire-pitch. In my head, I could practically see the soundwaves as they left my mouth and hit his ear. "Dad!"

Carlisle blinked, did a double take and grinned at me. Grinned, the man actually _grinned_. What had he been hunting, anyway? "Emmett," he murmured, closing the distance between us in the bookstore three-point-two miles from Alice and Jasper's Fifth Avenue apartment. "So good to see you. How was the island?"

Rosalie smiled and hugged our sire and Esme. "It was amazing, of course. Thank you again for letting us keep it to ourselves for a while."

Esme's expression was filled with playfulness. "I know my creativity comes...and goes...while we're there. So! Where's this new book? I want my copy first!"

Rosalie and Esme stepped off together and met with the events coordinator from the bookstore while Carlisle and I lingered near the front display area, next to the shelf filled with Rosie's books and half=behind another shelf covered with magazines. Carlisle darted quick look around, but other than the usual admiring glances (something I had grown used to, though Rose always got more looks than I did) no one cared what we would be talking about.

Not that I knew. I was thinking of asking if I should bring up the Isle Esme thing to Jazz when my sire affected this really casual air and shifted about on his feet. "Have you heard from Bella lately?"

I rolled my eyes. "I tell you, that girl is trouble." I picked up a magazine behind me and flipped through it, ostensibly showing Dr. Cullen the latest in European automobiles. "Have you been getting stuff in Italian, lately?"

Carlisle pursed his lips, tension obvious in the way he set his jaw for a second before making himself relax. "No. I hear she's been very interested in Italy lately, though?"

Flipping some more pages, I pretended to look for Rose and eyed her table. What I was _really_ doing was looking for one of those creeptastic Volturi Guards. "What happened? And do you have any idea what she wants with that new alloy I'm patenting? She gave me an idea and I ran with it, but she swears she wants no credit for any of it."

"Alloy?"

"Yeah," I said, getting a new magazine. Motorcycles. Damn fine machines. I'd have to get one when we settled after this book thing. "I thought it was, you know," I continued, inclining my head down to his, " _kink_ , right? I mean, Bella's _all tha_ t, right?" Carlisle shot me an incredulous look. "What? Serious. So that's what I thought but I was wrong."

"Has she made any new...requests lately? Or anything else in Italian?"

I remembered the slip of paper she gave me back in the airport in Italy, but I lost it...and since it was just the snippet of a piece of known literature – Dante again! – I didn't worry too much about it. I had read it. "A quote from Dante. Again. I think it referred to Rose, to be honest, or something. And something about the writer taking on the task of some kind of... Crap!"

"What?" Carlisle was still as only one of us can be. Just then, I caught a whiff of my Rosie and that calmed me as Esme scent must have soothed my sire because he relaxed immediately.

"Bella," I said, as softly as possible. "She's thinking she's going to _rescue_ us."

"From them." Carlisle didn't question me; he said it like it was a fact. History, even. Something he'd known for a while. Damn, the man was good. "Emmett?"

"Yeah?"

He grimaced. "Find some way of hiding that in your head so that Edward doesn't catch it if we run into him. God help us if Aro shakes your hand."

I almost scoffed – hiding stuff from Eddie was old news – but the idea of that adder Aro climbing into my memories made me cold. Well, cold _er_. "Yeah. Where is Eddie boy, anyway? Even getting together here in Manhattan could get us in deep crap. Speakin' of which, Rose and I were thinking that maybe Alice and Jazz should hide out where we spent the last two years, yeah?"

"Excellent notion, son. I'll bring it up as soon as we make eye contact."

Rosie's book signing went great. She had to age herself up some, though, which I thought was kind of amusing. She'd been writing these books for a few years and my wife still looked like she needed to get carded at the movies. Afterward, the Event Coordinator helped us pack things up and she and I hailed a cab.

Carlisle and Esme hailed a separate one. Jasper and Alice hadn't come to the signing; they were back at their place and a I sensed a weighty tension as Rosie and I hefted her posters and the two copies of her books that were left as well as my laptop. There was a sense of foreboding that wafted down to us, keeping us quiet. Carlisle and Esme were a few minutes behind us, but Rose and I waited for them in the foyer in front of the elevators.

We felt like teenagers that didn't want to go into a dangerous situation without our parents.

 _  
**Edward POV**   
_

Alice still wasn't speaking to my wife.

"She put us all in danger last year with that stunt. 'You know, I really loved Italy, Alice. Let's go back, if you want to go shopping. I'll practice my language skills.' Sure. I cannot believe she's evading my vision so thoroughly. And she _lied_ ," my sister ended with a painful rasp. Her eyes were suspiciously bright. We couldn't weep, but Alice would have been if she could have. Her mind flashed pictures at me. Pictures of Bella laughing and playing up to her, Alice, and looking at fabrics and choosing shoes. Images followed of Alice seeing just the barest glimpse of Bella at Volterra and then the wild view of speeding countryside. "She lied to me. We're best friends, Edward," she whispered. " _Sisters_. How could she do that to me?"

I held my sister close and rubbed her back to comfort her in her workroom-slash-design studio. Alice continued to communicate, but privately. _I know she's planning something. I know she's trying to fix things. What was it on that picture you showed us? A quote about her having been betaken to rescue us, right?_

"More or less," I murmured, remembering again the Italian verses shaped into the Ionic column my wife had left for Emmett. "Remember, she's not telling me the truth, either."

 _Neither is my husband._ Alice leaned away from me a little, though we were still holding one another in mutual sympathy and consolation. _Our respective spice –_

"Spice?"

 _The plural for spouse_ , Alice muttered in her mind. _They're being less than forthcoming and it worries me._

"Me too."

At that moment, our respective "spice," as Alice put it, were in Jasper's study. The jealousy I felt was gnawing away at my confidence in Bella in tiny, rat-size bites. I thought I was over it last year, when Jasper had told me about the Morse Code Bella had used like Braille to communicate with near-invisibility. I thought I had come to an acceptance of her wish to keep her plan to herself. But she had manipulated my favorite sister and had lied to everyone...

Except, apparently, Jasper. She was shielding him right now. I knew that because his thoughts were absolutely absent from the luxury apartment he and Alice had claimed as their home for these last few years. I was ready, to be honest, to set Alice down on her desk and break open the doors that led to the study. The urge to hit, to lash out, swept over me with a sudden fury and I growled.

Alice hopped out of my lax embrace. _Stop it. You will not go hurting Jasper. No no no. I am not thrilled with him, but we've been together a lot of years and I know this will pass, too. And even though Bella's given me a slap in the face, I know she's still my best friend. This is hurting her too, Edward._

I clenched my fists and rolled my shoulders. I still wanted to get my wife out of there.

"Stop it!"

Alice's shout must have compelled Bella to remove her shield because I felt a huge, heavy weight of emotion coming from the study and Jasper pushed the over-tall wooden doors open. Swooping his wife up in his arms, a warning glint in his amber gaze, he replayed the end of our Washington, D.C. conversation in his mind:

x x x x

I could see my discomfort in my expression, and my brother's memory let me feel it as he had. "Jasper, I need to say –"

 _No, you don't,_ he assured me silently. _I get it. I felt it all and I get it, I do. If my Alice were pulling some of Bella's stunts, I might not have asked questions first, you know?_ He offered me half a smile. _So we're good, my brother. No worries. Go home to your wife and rock her world._

x x x x

"Bella."

"Edward, I'm so –"

I believed Jasper. I did. I believed that he had nothing dishonorable in his interaction with my wife. But.

"Bella, being sorry means you're repentant," I said, keeping my voice soft with some effort. Somewhere, Alice and Jasper were having a talk and I didn't want to intrude on them, nor did I wish for them to share in ours. "Wanting to start afresh. Wanting not to – not to do what you were doing." Pain and that mysterious exhaustion tightened her eyes and pulled at her features palpably. I wanted to go to her, to wrap her in my arms, to hold her and tell her I'd fix it – whatever it was, I'd make it better.

But I couldn't. This was all on her and I didn't know how to reach her; she'd distanced herself so purposefully. Not just from me, but from Alice. And Carlisle.

"I cannot condone that kind of behavior, Bella. You deliberately put our family in danger. I understand your belief in your culpability but this cannot go on. Not while you're a member of my family."

Bella had sat before the webcam in shock as Carlisle read her the riot act. Usually the force of his personality was sufficient to ease a tense situation but with thousands of miles separating us, he was naturally compelled to go with harsher terminology.

And Bella had uttered those two words to him, too. "I'm sorry."

My heart had ached for her then and it hurt for both of us, now. "I love you, Isabella Cullen, never doubt that."

"I don't," she whispered in the doorway to Jasper's study. "I love you, too. Forever. I promised."

She looked so defeated that, against my own better judgment, I closed the space between us, moving around Alice's dress form with my arms outstretched. Bella sighed audibly and all but crashed into me, as if she were relinquishing a huge burden. "I'm really trying, Edward. I am. So hard. I just – I just need to keep you safe. You above everyone. You're my whole world."

"So why are you shutting me out?" My tone was more urgent than I had originally meant to make it and she stiffened against me. Still, our arms were wrapped about one another as if we were co-dependent vines. "Bella, sweetheart, I can't bear this. I feel like you've only been half mine for years, now." Her sob hit me like a wrecking ball in the center of my chest. Closing my eyes, I pressed her as closely to myself as I possibly could, thankful again that she was indestructible.

 **E &B E&B E&B**

Rosalie began the meeting, surprising me. Her hands flat on the polished maple table in front of her, she said, "First, I wanted to thank you for coming to support me with this book signing and to support Emmett with his first meeting with the publisher on his physics book." We all exchanged glances around the four sides of Jazz and Alice's square dining table. As with King Arthur's Round Table, there were no seats of honor, here, but we still tended to defer somewhat to Carlisle.

I noticed, though, that the attitude and thoughts were not quite as dependent upon my sire as they had been before our diaspora. Part of my mind studied this during the course of the meeting. I felt it was both a favorable and problematic development.

Congratulations were offered, again, to both. Bella, not looking at anyone but Rosalie and Emmett, said, "Sorry that we didn't join you, Edward and I. We were trying to keep the number of Cullens down at such a public venue. I – We didn't know how they were tracking us, if they were in person or not."

Emmett nodded casually. "I figured, Little Sis. No worries." Then, he smiled like he had a secret. "Unless you're worried about storm-proofing some place? But really," Emmett went on, shifting his focus to Jasper, "you should be the one worried."

I didn't miss the quick pulse of concern Jasper emoted before tamping it back down. "Worried? What the hell for? Have you seen this place, Emm? Hell, a good working storm hasn't hit Manhattan since the nineteen-nineties. Remember Floyd?"

Everyone nodded but Bella, of course. We hadn't been living in New York at the time, but the tropical storm had been a hurricane and had made big news, globally. "I know it," Emmett returned, smirking. "But take a look around, Jazz-man. We're breaking a cardinal rule."

Bella gasped and seemed to shrink in on herself. Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Get over it, Bella. You are not the reason we're here, right?"

"Right...but..."

Rose slapped her hands on the table with enough force to make noise but not enough to crack the wood. "Enough, already! The world does not revolve around you and your bizarre emails!"

"I never said it did," Bella shot back.

Jasper sent an alarmed glance my way and – though we had been at odds only a short time before, he and I worked together as we had in the past.

 _I need to, Edward. Everyone's tension is really heavy. It's been ugly since they got here._ In Jasper's memory, the tension was visible from the time we sensed the other four. It was heavy and vibrating and was like a wall in his awareness. _Bella's gonna snap, brother._

 _Edward! Bella's going to Italy!_

I gave my psychic sister a look. _Like that's news?_ I decided to say.

She saw my decision, heard the despairing humor in the tone I thought to use and sighed. She still didn't look at Bella.

Rosalie pushed back from the table and ostentatiously grabbed Emmett's hand in hers. "Actually, the reason we were asking Jasper is because we thought he and Alice ought to play it safe and go to Isle Esme for a couple years or so. Lay low. I seem to recall a certain Texan using that very term once upon a time," Rose said, her voice sliding with wry superiority.

Carlisle finally spoke. "Esme and I want you to be safe, Alice, Jasper. Right now, this moment, we have officially transgressed according to the terms the Volturi laid out."

I felt her move before I heard her speak. "It's ridiculous!" Bella declared, pushing away from the table in her turn. "Who made him boss?"

Rose made a disgusted, angry sound. "Who the hell gave you the right to question the way things are, Mrs. Newbie Vampire? What the hell _is_ it with you? You decide you have to set the world on its ear? Life's not interesting enough for you as one of the _walking undead_?" Rose and Bella were now facing off at the end of the table, having moved faster than the eye could blink. Emmett and I tossed concerned looks at each other, but mostly we focused on our mates.

Jasper rose too, and I could see his thoughts go to all possible terms of egress from the room and from the building. He sent out his gift to see if any triumphant vampires were in the vicinity as well. One word kept flashing through his mind, along with an image of his old hat, of all things. _Don't_ , he kept thinking. _Don't._

Through Alice's mind, the possibilities flew. I had thought Bella was able to block Alice's gift but I guessed, there in the dining room, that perhaps that was a voluntary thing on my wife's part. Images of Rosalie ripping off Bella's arm were violent and followed by me trying to get to Rose and Bella throwing up her shield and Emmett and Jasper and Carlisle in a strangely restrained hand-to-hand combat session... But all of this passed only in Alice's mind. None of it happened.

After a few moments passed in which we were all poised as if on the tip of a knife, waiting for something to be said or done which would deteriorate the situation, Esme put a tentative hand up, as if she were in school. _Peace. Harmony. Okay, let's separate them..._ "All right. I recommend Alice and Jasper get their things and just lay low, as has been said, all right? All of your things will be safe here. We can ship what you have to have for, say, the next year and then maybe Emmett and Rose can stay here? They need a place."

"I had been hoping to check out New Mexico," I informed my family. "Bella had mentioned it, before, when we first got the...the note from Aro." I saw the images in the minds of all the family. Back when we all lived together peacefully and were able to talk in front of a fire like a family should. A lifetime ago, it seemed now. "I thought perhaps she and I might lay low there..."

Jasper nodded at me, images of a spread in Northwest Texas coming to his mind as he remembered our brief discussion about this possibility years before. "We could do that together," he said.

"But what about the Volturi?"

Another discussion erupted and I found myself leaning over the dark square of the dining table, hearing the thoughts of my family and parsing out the objections and ideas and possibilities. How the Whitlocks could go to Isle Esme and Bella and I could tour the general vicinity Jazz had spoken of as a possible sanctuary of sorts where we could reconvene and the McCartys would make like Manhattanites here and Carlisle and Esme would return to Michigan and if the Volturi did happen to hear of this meeting and thought to claim their forfeit, they'd have their work cut out for them, claiming Alice and Jasper before she saw them coming.

Once the mental dust, so to speak, had cleared, I straightened up and nodded with satisfaction at my brothers, my hand outstretched to take Bella's.

It wasn't there.

The curiosity pulsed from me, I'm sure, because Jasper stiffened. _She's not here, Edward._

"Bella!" I shouted, my voice echoing with far too much force from the white walls and wooden floors.

In the small guest bedroom in which we had put our luggage earlier that day, I caught her scent. Her clothing was still in the closet, but her purse was gone. "Bella..." My heart tried to beat. To do something to reaffirm my life with my mate, but all that resulted was that my chest ached, ached with such a pain that I crumpled on the floor and groaned. I didn't even have _words_. _Bella, Bella..._

 _Edward, what happened?_ Carlisle and Esme thought this in tandem.

 _A note! There's a note!_ Alice saw it before she even reached the room.

Dread sinking into my bones, I pushed myself up from the plush white carpet on which I had collapsed. As if equipped with its own brand of radar, my hand felt its way almost unerrantly to the pillow.

 _My love,_

 _You are so right. I can't say I'm sorry unless I mean to stop doing what is hurting you. And I can't. Not yet. I am so sorry I have given you any cause to doubt me, ever. I love you and only you and always will. I hope you will now have no cause to doubt, since I leave alone._

 _I am miserable about the dissension in our family, Edward. But that I feel will stop if I'm not here, so I'm going. Until I can ask for your forgiveness for everything I've put you through. And I can't do that until I know you're safe. All of you._

 _Don't look for me...I'll find you when it's over._

 _I love you._

 _Bella_

My hand shook as I read the words over and over, vainly wishing for them to be different. "She left me," I rasped.

Alice started to sob, in that grotesque gasping way we had. Wrapping her up in his arms, Jasper met my eyes.

"When it's over, Jazz? What the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know, Brother. I wish I did."

I threw myself fully into his mind but found only questions. And the very persistent image of that stupid, floppy, wide-brimmed hat.

 **A/N 2: I promise to fix this.**

 **In the meanwhile, my gratitude to the person or persons responsible for nominating this story to the Twilight Gem Awards! Voting goes until August 31st. Please consider voting Places, Everyone! As the best family story. The link is on my profile to take you directly to the ballot.**

 **Until next time...**


	8. Eighth Year 2025 Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N: Wow! I am so loving sharing this with y'all. Thanks to everyone who is joining us and thank you to all my readers and reviewers! A HUGE thank you to everyone who voted for this story at the Twilight Gem Awards. Places, Everyone! was voted as the Best Family story! :) Thanks so much!**

**A/N: Wow! I am so loving sharing this with y'all. Thanks to everyone who is joining us and thank you to all my readers and reviewers! A HUGE thank you to everyone who voted for this story at the Twilight Gem Awards. Places, Everyone! was voted as the Best Family story! :) Thanks so much!**

 **  
**

* * *

_  
**Chapter 8 - January, 2025**   
_

_  
**Carlisle POV**   
_

Esme's tearless weeping tore at me when I heard it. She didn't allow herself the release of that expression of sorrow unless she thought I was out of earshot, though. Not after the first couple of weeks after Bella ran from our family. She was painting a stark, winter landscape on the walls of our spare room in our Iron Mountain home when I arrived home early from the hospital.

"Esme?" I had heard her from the modest garage.

"She called!"

Joy mingled electrically with trepidation as I caught my wife's leap into my arms. I was reminded of her reaction to any call from Edward when he had left Isabella Swan so many years ago during that dark time of their early relationship.

"Ironic, I know." Edward's voice came to me from the back mudroom, where he was scraping his feet. I could hear heavy winter boot soles rubbing against the mat. He appeared, trudging through the kitchen to meet me and Esme in the living room.

 _You look...better_ , I informed him cautiously. His eyes weren't quite as flat a black, being now a normal dark brown that indicated he should hunt. His shoulders were straight, his face wasn't set in the despondent lines he had worn for the past several days.

He lifted a brow at me in a way that reflected his doubt about my assessment.

 _I'm your father, trust me._

He snorted and his lips tilted in a smirk that eased my heart considerably.

I kept my thoughts shielded from him even now, to a degree, remarking out loud, "I'll go change and we can hunt as soon as it's dusk, all right?"

"Just the two of you?" Esme inquired, her arms still around me, her fingers pressing firmly into my flesh.

I smiled into her eyes and decided to carry her up to our room. It was a comfortable room and Esme had spent time and energy decorating it to suit the newest young doc in the community clinic. Modern furniture. Ikea, truth to tell, but Esme hadn't put much of herself in this place. Here, we were not pretending to be prestigious anybodies, just a young doctor, his wife and – recently – his wife's brother newly out of school. It was a family situation we had enacted before, about a hundred years ago. I set Esme gently on the black framed bed and turned to the closet to change.

"When did she call?" I murmured over my shoulder. We both knew Edward could hear our voices and our thoughts, but soft tones were a gloss coat of manners we put on these types of conversations. My work clothes were off before Esme answered.

"An hour ago. Edward was composing when his phone vibrated and I heard him talking before he put a coat on and went outside." I heard her lay back on the pillows. "I was painting."

"The spare room?"

"Yes."

I pulled on dark jeans and crossed to the bed to recline beside her, propped up on one elbow. "Is it helping? The landscape?"

"I don't know. I feel so..."

"Guilty, I know." The skin that rimmed her eyes was a bit silvered, evidence of an excess of venom coating her corneas. I checked those mental boundaries I had been working on for the past several years. It could be exhausting, hiding parts of my mind from Edward. "Me too." Especially since I had spoken to Bella since then as well and hadn't told anyone.

My phone had buzzed while I was en route to the clinic a week after Bella had gone. A week after the family had done all in their power to restrain Edward from following his mate. I understood his need to go to her, but I also knew better than he did what could happen to him, unshielded, if he went alone.

"Carlisle?" Bella's voice had whispered tentatively into my ear as if worried it wouldn't be welcome. "Are you at home?"

I had pulled over immediately, not trusting even my vampiric senses to keep me safe and composed on the roads while I took this most surprising of phone calls. With the motor idling and a light rain falling, I had spoken with our prodigal. "No. Bella. Dear one. Where are you? We've all been frantic. Edward –"

"I'm calling him next, Dad, I promise," she had murmured. "I'm on a throwaway phone, so don't bother saving the number. I'm where you probably guessed I'd be, more or less. I just needed to know if there was anything you could tell me that I didn't know already?"

She had been so cryptic, but then I had been as well as I had assured her she knew all that I could tell her. "Please, Bella. Please don't go in there. Edward would be on the next plane and be immolated. You know that."

I heard her breath catch. "Please keep him safe for me. Please. I promise you that I won't go where you're afraid I will. I promise. May I call you again?"

"You're family. We love you and we spent a week trying to figure out how to bring you home –"

"Don't! I told Edward. I'll call when it's safe. I'll, I'll fix this, Carlisle. I will."

 **C &E C&E C&E**

 _So...?_ I thought at my son as we ran into the Ottawa National Forest.

He glanced over at me. "She says she's _fine_. I _hate_ it when she says that." He leapt up, ripped a branch off a tree and hit other trees with it in passing for about forty-two yards, as if he were a boy on a street lined with picket fences. Snow flew around him in small explosions. "Damn! She told me I still can't come because she still can't protect me. When did it become her job to protect me?"

 _When you changed her and she became a shield...?_ I ventured.

"Don't be an ass, Carlisle," he snapped, tossing the branch from him. "Months. It's been four months."

 _At least she's kept in touch._

His roar stilled us in our run. "You know that's not nearly enough! You know it! Why the hell are all of you so protective of her? I swear Jasper and Alice have me under surveillance."

 _Probably_ , I allowed, hoping his outbursts hadn't frightened off the winter deer. _But you know why it needs to be this way._

He tugged ruthlessly at his hair. "They were supposed to be on Isle Esme this year, remember?" He began pacing. "Emmett and Rose keeping up appearances. And here we are and my _wife_ –" Clenching his fists, he came to utter stillness, not even breathing. "Carlisle. I hate this," he whispered, his emotion etched into lines on his face. Deep shadows ringed his eyes. "I want to just get to her, you know? I ache. My entire body is empty. Hollow. I know if I could just _see_ her. Just spend a _day_ with her. I need her scent, Carlisle. It's leaching out of everything...everything that was hers. I live for those damned phone calls, and that – when did this get to be my life?" At this last question, he was in front of me, his eyes boring down into mine from his greater height. "This is Hell. In my head, right now."

"Why?" I spoke aloud to ground him, to keep my words out of his personal Hell, as he had so stated it.

He threw his head back and barked a hard-edged laugh. "Because you're still hiding something. Or a lot of somethings. Jazz is, too. Not Emmett, so much, but still. Just like it was years ago, _Dad_ ," he said, giving me the title with a healthy dose of sarcasm. "You all still know more about what she's doing than I do." Anger seemed to drain from his body to the snow that crunched at our feet as we began to move again, more slowly, toward the scent of deer. "And sometimes, honestly, I want to rip you all apart and hide the pieces."

I felt his pain and ached with him, adding my own personal felt betrayal because he was right; I did know more than I was letting on. Last year, I had sent Bella, in addition to everything else, a book. A book I didn't know the purpose for, but I had come to realize that everything she had been doing had been leading to her goal. Everything.

What did she want with a book on brain surgery?

My son's steps ceased as he held out his arm to halt my forward progress. "Brain surgery?"

* * *

 _  
**Edward POV, March 2025**   
_

"You think this is easy on me?" Bella's voice pled with me through the small speaker on my phone. Strain etched her soft tones. "Edward, I – I need you, sweetheart. I need to know you're strong for me."

Despite my inner torment, the worry that was grinding at my skull and kneading my insides as if I were human with malleable organs, I couldn't help the snort that came audibly from me. It echoed lightly my car, where I sat in the early spring snowfall. "Seven months, two days and twenty hours, Bella."

"I know." She paused. I didn't know what to say, but she finally said what I guess I'd been half-expecting for perhaps nineteen years. "You left me for about that long, remember? At least I'm calling you...at least we can talk."

I growled, clenching my jaw and purposefully keeping my fingers featherlight on my phone. "Is that what this is really about, Bella? Is that why...?"

"No! No, not at all. I – I knew I'd have to come here, Edward. I won't lie to you, but I hoped it wouldn't be for so long. But – but you heard them. They're all so..."

"We just want you back, love. I need you. _I need you back_. I can't function..."

"You can and you are," she shot back immediately. Harshly. As if she were talking about more than this situation.

I didn't have her intuition, perhaps, but I tried. "You told me you had forgiven me. Remember?"

"I did. I do. I'm just so tired..."

Injecting a hint of humor, I retorted, "You're a vampire. We don't _get_ tired."

The laugh that barely reached me was obviously false. "Maybe Carlisle will have to write a dissertation on this when I'm done..."

And there it was. "When, Bella? I'm not cut out for this long-distance relationship scenario. I need to – to be able to breathe you in. I need your voice brushing against me. Your hand in mine." Once, I wooed her with my words, not trusting myself to even touch her beyond the most guarded gestures of affection. In the rain forest, I wooed her with my body to a degree, as well as our mutual improved communications. I shouldn't have to be _wooing_ my _wife_ , I felt, but still I needed to do so. Yearning for her took up every minute of my day and I told her so.

"Edward." Just my name, but it came as a huge reassurance because she sounded as if she missed me at least as much. "I'm doing my best."

"Will you please answer that _question_ for me?" I had asked her about the need to know about brain surgery several weeks ago. Carlisle's slipped revelation had caused me to doubt him and my brothers all over again, no matter how often they endeavored to reassure me. There were times I had even considered going against everyone's wishes and flying to Italy to take Aro up on his offer. My family would have followed and I could know for certain what everyone had been keeping to themselves.

And then Alice would call and remind me that suicide was not commonly a group activity.

"You know it's not safe," Bella reminded me. "Jasper said..."

"You've been talking with Jasper?" Pain sliced me again and I cringed in the privacy of my snowbound sports coupe. "What the hell, Bella?"

Her irritation was nigh on palpable. "Don't, Edward. Please. I am sorry for ever giving you a moment's concern regarding my – my relationships with the rest of the family. I am. I am not meeting with anyone. I'm all by myself here, okay? You have to believe me. Yes, I have spoken with Jasper because he knows things. Like Carlisle knows things. Like Emmett knows things. It's just research, sweetheart. Please believe me."

I held the phone away from me, my eyes burning with regret, with pain, with love so intense I wanted to just drown in it. "Bella..." I rasped. "Why not me? Why can't I..."

"I have to protect you. It's all I want. And when I'm done, I'll make it up to you, Edward, I promise."

"How? How can you possibly give me back the last seven months?"

"How do you think I spend my time when I'm not – not _researching_?" The strange sounds of exhaustion were still in her voice, but so was...sex. That curl in her words that had always aroused me was present and my body recognized it for what it was. My mate's reassurance that we were together and bound for eternity. Apart, frustrated, angry, but still bound.

The relentless pressure I'd been living with eased noticeably and I smiled with closed eyes. "All right," I breathed at last. "Tell me?"

"Seriously?"

"Start making it up to me now," I suggested, relaxing into the leather bucket seat. "You owe me," I reminded her, needing to hear her like this. For just a little while.

"But – but what about _Them_?" she whispered, sounding anxious but also intrigued. I knew her voice better than I knew my own.

Still, I had to consider the security. I knew – though it wounded me every time my vampiric brain tossed the knowledge to the forefront of my mind – that Bella had taken herself so far from me to keep me safe. _Ironic_ didn't begin to describe it, as I'd thrown at Carlisle more than once in recent months. "Then make it fast," I directed my wife.

Background sounds reached me through the phone as she made whatever preparation she deemed necessary to share her thoughts. "There's a place...somewhere...that I've seen..." she whispered, and I heard her voice smooth with her imagination and that was surprisingly comforting to me. "A town. On a cliff. I sat on a ledge on the side of it one night and thought of you. Of us."

I swallowed reflexively and felt my body respond to her words. It was almost like being in her mind, for just a few precious moments. I relished it. Later, I would reflect how it would take several years and thousands of miles to bring me back to this intimacy with my wife, but I did not let the thoughts dim the moment. "Tell me," I said again, my own tone warmer than I knew it had been in far too long. "Please, my Bella. I have – I need..."

"So do I," she confessed. "The cliff, Edward, is abrupt and highly populated but there are niches. Dangerous, but...we're indestructible, right?"

"Yes..."

"I sat in one on a clear night, just as the moon rose and I thought of you being with me. I thought of us, together, on that tiny slip of rock. I imagined how it would feel, with you. Feeling you over me, the rock under, the winds sweeping over our skin..."

I could imagine it as she detailed in very specific terms what she had thought about, that moonlit night so far from me. It took a considerable amount of restraint to refrain from following through entirely with her general progression of...activity. Later. I could work that out later.

"Bella... How much longer?"

She didn't sound nearly as tired as she had, and I hoped that our conversation had been as relaxing and even healing for her as it had for me. "Soon. I'm working so hard, Edward, to make it safe, but I – I can't act too soon, right?" Then, she must have seen something that alarmed her considerably because she gasped and swore softly into my ear. "Gotta go, sweetheart. I love you. Bye."

"Bella...!"

She was gone.

 **E &B E&B E&B**

"It's a military thing, Edward." Jasper and I were conversing via webcam. "It's called being on deployment, you know?" He was speaking _around_ the topic, his expression relaxed though he was visibly restless.

A _restless vampire_. Yes.

"Well, I think it's an unnecessary stress in wartime, Mr. Military Expert."

"That's why the military generally provides counseling to the families who remain at home. Is that what your project is for? The next architectural masterpiece?"

It was, ostensibly, the reason for our discussion: Constructing a new facility for "families of absent military." Because Esme and I were now thinking toward the future and wanting to create a new home for all of us Cullens to reunite when Bella's self-imposed exile was over. I was trying to be optimistic.

It wasn't easy because in most of my mind, I was thinking about the state of my relationship with my wife as contrasted with the one-woman war she was apparently waging against the Volturi, if what Jasper was talking around was to that purpose. So I held back my sigh and nodded. "Yeah. Should we provide separate quarters for a counselor?" I inquired, a smile quirking my lips.

My brother chuckled. "Oh that'd be good. And I think all returning warriors who are in need of a debriefing session should be able to have separate quarters as well. So they can decompress with their families." He grew serious, his eyes boring into mine from Isle Esme, thousands of miles from the house in Michigan. "Perhaps what you might consider building, Edward, is a compound more than a large, multifamily unit. Not so much...apartments," he went on with a tilt of his blond head, "but interconnected buildings so that access to a main activity and entertainment center is possible out of the weather, yet leaving privacy for the individual families."

The possibilities immediately occurred to me. "What about some underground? I was thinking in terms of energy efficiency."

His brows rose. "Excellent idea. You're the engineer; you'll figure it out."

His eyes darted off to his left. "Time's up. I gotta scoot. Alice has a teleconference with New York."

"Yes, and I have to move the computer into my studio, so get off of it! I've got clients to meet!" Alice's face appeared over Jasper's shoulder, her dark brows angled ominously. "Next time you talk to her wife, tell her I forgive her, all right? Please?"

"I will. What brought about the change of heart, Alice?"

The elfin face drooped and she slid around to climb into her husband's lap. "What Jazz said about being on deployment. He's right. I'm not going to hold wartime lies against her. All's fair and all that."

Real pleasure burst from Jasper's eyes before he closed them and planted a kiss on Alice's head. "I love you, Mrs. Whitlock."

"I love you too, Mr. Whitlock."

Ostentatiously, with humor, I cleared my throat. "All right, honeymooners. I'm out of here. I have some planning to do, blueprints to draw, and so on."

"Have fun," Jasper murmured, already completely engrossed in whatever vibe my sister was exuding.

I snorted as I pushed away from the webcam pick-up. "Designers, Alice?'

"Crap! Right!"

Fade to black took on a whole new meaning as I sped from my room in Carlisle's house.

* * *

 _  
**Demetri POV, May 2025**   
_

The crash and splinter of an ancient chair was not the first such sound I had heard in past months.

A scream and its abrupt cessation were not the first of their kind, either. I was there to witness the latest grouping of these distinctive sounds in the Chamber. The walls of the Chamber are thick, of course, but still Aro timed the execution for a busy time of day outside our walls. Just in case.

"My lord Aro," Felix said, tossing the headless corpse to Arden and her mate, who waited for this duty near the center drain. "What is it? Are you finding a change in our kind?" He was referring to a seeming proliferation of shielded vampires. We had our Renata, of course, and I had met Bella Cullen, the shield from the quasi-disbanded Cullen Coven, but other than the two of them, and the nomad from a couple of years ago, no other shields had been detected among our kind for a human generation at the very least. It was not a common gift.

Which was good for me, for my gift is rendered useless against them.

My lord Aro was visibly dismayed – a rarity and I watched with hidden amusement. Well, hidden as long as I could avoid his touch, at any rate. "No," he snapped at Felix. "Of course not. We do not, after all breed."

"What if – is there any record of a shield being...passed on, perhaps?" Alec wondered idly from his usual perch at the edge of the raised dais. "From sire to newborn?"

"No! Not in all the millenia of my existence!" Aro's information was uncommonly good, as we all knew. Still, his eyes became burgundy slits as he regarded Renata, his personal guard and physical shield.

She regarded him with apathy, which struck me as distinctly curious. I stepped nearer almost against my will and heard her say, "I've never turned anyone, my lord Aro. You know this."

He nodded slowly and then noticed my approach. "Has the Cullen's Shield turned anyone?"

Felix and I exchanged a glance. "Not that we're aware of, my lord. Shall we inquire?" I asked.

"Do. Now." With a wave of his hand, he dismissed us. "You there, come," he demanded with a thin, nearly desperate voice. "Give me your hand." As Felix and I left the Chamber, I heard my lord Aro sigh in relaxation. "Ah, yes. Your human wife was lovely, wasn't she? You should meet Katarina. They are very like, you know."

"I guess all is well again," Felix said with a shrug. "Where should we look first, to check to see if the Cullen Shield has sired any newborns?"

I rolled my eyes at him and flicked a thread from my coat. "The leader, Carlisle, is in Michigan. We've been tracking him. The Mindreader is there as well."

"The Shield's mate."

I exchanged a smile with my usual partner in surveillance. "Indeed. This should be relatively simple. We'll find him, thus finding her, and bring them to my lord Aro for questioning."

"My lord Aro cannot read her mind," Felix reminded me as if I were a simpleton. _Me!_

I huffed out an annoyed breath and eyed him up and down as if _he_ were the simpleton. "He will not have to – you will have her mate."

"Of course. But we will need to incapacitate the large one. And the Empath." I eyed him as I slid a change of clothing and another pair of gloves into an attaché in my quarters. Felix understood without another word. "Right. They're not to be together, are they?"

"And if they are, we'll bring them all in. I am sure there is a nomad or two or who would wish to be in the good graces of our lord Aro."


	9. Eighth Year 2025 Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N: Thank you so much for joining in! We're getting to the end…there is this chapter and then all will be revealed in the next one (10)! Thank you to everyone who is reading this story and to all who review! I so enjoy hearing from you! See you down below! ~LJ**

**A/N: Thank you so much for joining in! We're getting to the end…there is this chapter and then all will be revealed in the next one (10)! Thank you to everyone who is reading this story and to all who review! I so enjoy hearing from you! See you down below! ~LJ**

* * *

 _  
**Chapter 9 - Eighth Year, Part Two**   
_

_  
**Jasper - May, 2025**   
_

"Stop it, Jasper. You're making me dizzy."

The image and burst of confusion from my wife was enough to halt the sand-accented blur I was making of myself. "Sorry, hon. I'm just thinking."

Alice cast a wry glance down the beach, where I had walked a furrow worthy of a mechanical farming army. "Clearly." She jumped to her feet, leaving her specially-engineered laptop computer. "Look, this is killing you. Just go to her."

I flashed to my mate. "What?"

Alice took my hands in hers. "She needs you. I know it's killing you, leaving a comrade in arms or something out there all by herself. She managed to get me away from the Guard, so I'm guessing she can get you away too."

"How'd she do that again?" I asked, spinning her to retrieve her computer. I had already decided to take her up on her offer. We'd have to relocate. I was divided on that score. I wanted to go help my little sister. Alice was entirely right. I wanted to get to her and provide her with the hand to hand combat experience she didn't have. To protect her in ways her shield didn't. To help her take those bastards down, damn it.

Brushing off fine grains of white and pink sand from her skin, Alice shook her head. "She just threw me over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes."

"Potatoes." I had to smile, even though my mind was racing over possible travel arrangements. "And since her shield works when you touch her..."

"Like Aro's little gift, yes..."

I didn't tell her that I knew any differently as I took the computer and tucked it under my arm before we turned to go inside. "You were under her shield." I glanced down at my wife as we reached the shade of the long porch in front of Esme's little cottage. "You think she could toss me over her shoulder, little lady?"

The snort that came from Alice's delicate nose was anything but little. "Oh sure. Why not? She's like Super VampChick, right?" Shaking her head, she took the computer from me to place it on an end table next to the sofa. "Seriously, Jazz. If you feel you need to go to her, go. I'll be all right here."

"That's where I'm not sure at all, hon. I need you to be safe. Here, there's no one to protect you."

"If I see someone coming, I'll go hide underwater."

I laughed shortly. "Still. Not by yourself. You'll come with me."

"What? I can't do anything to help you in Volterra!"

I took her in my arms, having come to a decision. "No, but I'll take you to Carlisle and Esme. You can stay safe with them and I'll take Edward to Italy with me. I couldn't risk taking you to the Volturi, hon." Lifting her up, I buried my nose in her hair, smelling the heat of the sun and the sweet, sweet scent of her. "I completely understand Bella," I murmured as I ran my nose down her throat. "She's just wanting to keep Edward safe. Willing to do what she has to do so long as he's not anywhere near her while she works on it. I'm the same way."

With the pressure of her arms and the flexibility of her legs, Alice brought our bodies flush together and let me know with her feelings that she was with me. Determination, support, worry, pride and anticipation sparked along her body tangibly for me. Her lips simultaneously soothed and encouraged, her body calmed and motivated. No one in the world was as communicative as my Alice when she wanted to be.

The sun had set before we pulled away from one another. I had to laugh – without needing air, we could go at it all day, drawing what we needed from one another – and we had, apparently. "Hoo, hon. You're a marvel."

"Says Dr. Feelgood," she purred. "Shall we adjourn to someplace more comfortable?"

I was about to take her up on that – sure that one more day would not make a difference right now in Bella's Plan to Save the World or whatever she was cooking up – when Alice stiffened, freezing in mid-step on her way to the bedroom with its lush midnight fabrics and heavy – Emmett and Rosalie heavy – furniture. "Jasper. You have to get there right away. Like, yesterday."

"What?"

"Not really yesterday, dolt. I meant like now. Right the hell now. Yes. Now. Come on. I'll pack and you call."

After almost eighty years together, you get into a routine. But I needed some information. "Where is it I need to go?" Her emotions were all over the place.

She stomped off into the bedroom. "Michigan! The Tracker and the big guy, Felix, are going to be there!"

I called the airlines and made arrangements for the most expeditious flights back.

 **J &A J&A J&A**

"What do you see?" I demanded as we sped from the airport in the rented car. It was a new European hybrid, but it had some power in the bastardized engine. Alice was hunched over on herself in the passenger seat and didn't answer me right away. I tried to suppress my impatience but her whole demeanor screamed _Serious!_ as loudly to me as if she were shouting in my ear. Distress, worry, fear in thick, crashing waves. "C'mon, hon. I need whatever intelligence you can give me." A thought occurred to me. "Wait. Is Bella _there_? Is that the problem?"

"No. No, but the Tracker and Felix are."

I swore and pounded the gas pedal so that it was almost through the floor of the car. Recollecting myself in the sudden surge of speed and the whine of the abused engine, I swore again and lightened up the lead foot. "All right. Is Esme safe?"

Alice shook herself visibly and turned her head to rest her cheek on the knees of her folded legs. "Of course. Actually, it's weird, Jazz. Demetri and Felix are – will be, because it's afternoon now and in the vision it's dark – just sitting around the dining table with Edward and Carlisle. Esme is – packing? Yes." She frowned and moved to glower out the windshield, her fingers laced with peaceful tension. "Oh, great. Okay, so you're going and Edward's going and Esme and I are –"

Worry sparked in me. "Are what, hon?"

"Baking cookies? I see us taking them to the clinic Carlisle works at, but what am I doing baking cookies?"

Her concern about that was greater than the concern she had just displayed over my leaving with Edward and Carlisle, but I had to laugh a little anyway. "Remember Martha Stewart?"

"Like we could forget anything," she drawled.

"That's my girl."

Then, we were in Iron Mountain and driving through overcast springtime streets. Children laughed, as they always had over the years. Adults were gardening, talking, walking pets. It was all so human and I smiled to remember again that no one mimicked humanity better than the Cullens.

Carlisle's house was at the end of a small development. Modest, two-story home with a two-car garage, it looked entirely...normal. But the emotions that arced out of that little piece of suburbia were frenetic.

"Come on, hon. We better get ourselves inside right the hell now. Something's wrong."

* * *

 _  
**Edward - June, 2025**   
_

_Edward! Edward, now don't go freaking out. I can't see her, but I_ can _see_ you _and I'm trying to see Aro. I just – I can't and it's weird. But hang on, okay? No ripping heads off or anything, promise me._

Alice's mental voice started shouting at me the moment she got in range. I had been keeping myself busy with blueprints before I heard it, working on a separate-but-together, quasi-communal living arrangement for the family. I turned my concentration to Alice's thoughts as she and Jasper arrived and my fear and worry spiked enough that Esme dashed to my side and took my stilled hand in her own. "Edward?"

I shook my head shortly, focusing. "Alice," was all I said.

My mother-for-all-intents-and-purposes gasped and stilled next to me. "Oh."

In Alice's mind were visions of Demetri and Felix, sitting with us around our dining table. She saw the two from the Guard accompanying Jasper and me on a plane, with my expression absolutely impassive. I could tell by how I looked in the vision that I was worried. My sister also had visions of Demetri and Felix fighting, yelling at one another in the walled tower Carlisle had shown me was the Volturi feeding chamber. A place of bloodied stone and bare wooden furniture from an era far removed from this one.

There were no images of my Bella. I tried to take comfort in that. If there were no images of her, then she was working on her shield which meant she was well and healthy. We had spoken two days ago, on another of her throwaway phones. One of the things she had done months ago was take out an enormous amount of cash before she left Manhattan. She knew about "security measures" as well as any of us, if not more, considering how she had managed to work around all of our gifts over the past several years and still manage not to have the Volturi overwhelm us.

 _Now, Jasper decided he had to go help Bella, the Super Vampchick. I am going to make her wear a superhero costume as penance for putting us through this. You tell her that for me when you see her._

In spite of my trepidation, I had to smile at the mental image Alice gave me of Bella in some Marvel Comics spandex bodysuit. Red and black figured prominently. Then I returned to the heart of the message. Jasper decided he had to go help Bella.

Damn. It wasn't that I didn't want to go to her – I did. I wanted to know what the hell she thought she was doing. Jasper kept putting it in military terms, but the only military people I knew that went out alone and came back alone were snipers. My wife as a sniper? What kind of weapon was she using? Her shield was defensive, not offensive. Panic started flaring under my skin as I tried to put together the pieces of the puzzle I'd been gathering for years. What kind of weapon was she going to use, if she was indeed acting as a sniper? Who was her target? Who was watching her back? What other possibilities were there?

I heard the muted sound of a hybrid engine as it came up the street and Jasper's thoughts started their march into my mind. _You know we're here, Edward. You know why too, right? I know Alice can't keep a secret from you...well, not many. Which is why I'm guessing that Bella has learned how to apply her shield to keep Alice out, too._

The car reached the house and I heard, over Jasper's continuing monologue, the sounds of him parking and talking to Alice.

 _Calm down, Brother. I don't know what you're seeing in Alice's head, but we – you and I – are going to get our asses over there and help. Just as soon as we take care of a couple of visitors._

Demetri and Felix. Of course.

"Why can't we just go before they get here?" I asked as they entered the house.

"Never go into enemy territory without intelligence," Jasper reminded me. His thoughts washed with dark shadows over his time in the Southern Vampire Wars and earlier days when Maria had sent him in blindly. I saw what appeared to be armies of vampires, their eyes glowing red in the moonlight as they leapt through the sky. Torn limbs, screaming, headed torsos, and Jasper's own pain as he was personally attacked my up to eight vampires at once. Teeth, venom, pain! My brother let me see it and wafted to me a wave of an emotion that felt like confidence. _See? Stupid. We find out what we need to know. Then we go in._

I growled, but admitted he had a point. And if it meant that we would go together to _get Bella_ , that was my end goal. I purposefully sent my gratitude out to him, trying to do it as I knew he did, by pushing it from my chest as if with invisible hands.

Carlisle and Esme did the niceties while I returned to my room. I had to pack. I had never retrieved Bella's and my things from our abandoned place in New Market. A caretaker was seeing to that house, but now I realized I didn't want to return there, even when I had Bella back in my arms again. I wanted to take her someplace new. A fresh start. We _had_ to have that opportunity; I refused to consider the alternatives. So, I would require a change of clothes for myself and a collection of things for my wife. I had unpacked the garments she had had with her on our trip to Manhattan. I chose a long-sleeved blouse in my favorite midnight blue shade and paired it with the long white skirt she had chosen last year. She would require lingerie as well and as I chose filmy, frothy undergarments, I couldn't help but remember the conversation we had had about the town on the cliff face and what she imagined us doing there...

Burying my nose in her lingerie, I tried to find her scent where it hid in the lace and satin.

 _Come on down, loverboy. Alice says they'll be here when it's dark. We have some planning to do._

After tucking the clothing away into a small leather carryon, I considered taking it down with me but decided that might be problematic considering our coming "visitors." So I left it in our closet. It wasn't as if it would take any significant amount of time to run up to retrieve it. "Coming," I informed the rest of the family. I could hear them settling in the living room. When I leapt to the first floor, I caught Alice's eye.

"Thanks," I said. She knew why.

Her expression, which had been strained, relaxed into a smile. _Spandex_ , she reminded me with a wink.

Carlisle and Esme were holding hands in front of the hearth. _He's here. He says he's going to go to Bella. What if The Three keep him? What will happen to him? Alice will go directly and then I will have lost three of them...No, four._

My mind was detangling his thoughts from Esme's. _They'll bring her home and she better believe she's going to hear about this from me. I wonder if she'll like the colors I used in the upstairs bath? Will Edward start on the new compound when she's home? Oh boy, Carlisle needs to make her grovel though, for all that she's put him through. Hm. Grovel._ An image flashed through her mind of a scene I did not need to see of her, Esme, kneeling in front of Carlisle and – no. I was trying to get a read on everyone's stance and mental space before Demetri and Felix arrived. I had no objection to whatever Carlisle and Esme wished to do in the privacy of their rooms, but no. Did not want to be there.

 _Bella needs to grovel for me, anyway,_ I decided. Optimism shot through me in a sudden burst and I shot a look at Jasper. Was that him?

His brows lifted into his broad forehead. _What?_

"Optimism? Really?" I asked him as I settled into a club chair that was near the fireplace.

Esme and Carlisle offered me wan smiles as they moved to the sofa. "All right. So we're having company and then you, Jasper, plan on taking Edward with you to extract Bella?"

I nodded but Jasper was shaking his head. "Nope. I want to help her, Carlisle. I want to find out what she's up to and help her and then bring her home." He eyed me, his golden eyes hard. "She's been knocking herself out, messing with all of us, and thinking something – Lord help us – is more important than staying safely at her mate's side. I want to know what it is and I want to make it so that she never has to do this again."

"Thanks, Jazz," I murmured.

He snorted. "Hell, Edward. Think I'm doing this for you?" His smile was strangely easy and playful. Well, he was in was his element. "I'm just tired of picking up on your vibe, man. And Alice's. Hell, I remember the peace that we had, back after you two got married. I want that again. It was nice."

 **E &B E&B E&B**

"Demetri. Felix." Carlisle's voice was cool but courteous as he greeted these members of the Volturi Guard at his front door. "Come in, please."

 _Carlisle and his mate. The Warrior and the Empath. The Mindreader but I cannot find the Shield. Well, she is a Shield. Of course. All is going precisely as I hoped_.

Woven amidst the satisfaction in the Tracker's mind were images that baffled me and that I felt I must discuss with Carlisle before Jasper and I left, loathe though I was to delay our trip for any reason. The images were of Aro throwing furniture around, shouting, losing his temper. Causing executions that Demetri's thoughts quietly thought were unjust.

Unjust? I stayed in his mind as he and Felix made themselves comfortable around the dining table. Acknowledging their triumphant looks at Jasper and myself, I chose not to respond to them. Instead, I watched as Demetri reviewed his ideas. They would take Jasper and myself back to Volterra. _The Shield has run, of course, but we will persuade her to show herself since we will have her mate. Aro will then know if she has made any newborns with her shield._

"What?" I blurted, unthinking. "She hasn't. She couldn't. No."

"Hasn't what?" Carlisle asked, his tone still cautious. _Don't trust them. Don't tell them where she is. Where is she, anyway?_

I shrugged with one shoulder in our usual communication pattern.

Felix stared at me. Subtlety had no part of his makeup. _Mindreader_. I met his gaze impassively. _I do not know what your mate has been doing, but I tell you this, Aro will not tolerate her interference._

From Jasper's mind I caught interest and a strange, violent sort of glee. _Ask him the question. Ask them both._ My brother's face was alight with a kind of triumphant smirk, as if he knew something no one else did and he was way too happy about it.

I did not dare ask aloud, so I pushed a _What the hell?_ kind of emotion to him.

 _The question. The What Don't You Want Me to Know one. C'mon Edward. We don't have time to dick around._

I blinked. Decided he was right for all his vulgarity of expression and, after a look to Carlisle, I proceeded.

Slowly.

"Look. We know you didn't travel this far to see if we were obeying Aro's absurd directive," I began, adding the inflammatory adjective to see what came to their minds.

I was not disappointed. The word _absurd_ was echoed in both of their minds. Felix was recollecting the confusion and distrust he felt when Aro required him to end the existences of two vampires in the round Chamber. That was absurd. Shields right and left? That was absurd as well. Then, the larger-than-Emmett vampire stilled his thoughts and scowled heavily at me and his mind went to thinking about feeding time at Volterra. I cringed and he smirked.

Demetri spoke – it seemed to be his office. "Of course we did. What else would we be doing here? Aro is always interested in making sure that all of those under his dominion are acting in everyone's best interest."

 _He's lying. Deception and sarcasm are all around him_.

I nodded. "Of course," I said to both Jasper's silent observation as well as Demetri's vocal one. "My _wife_ said once that it really wasn't fair, you know, for him to make decisions for us."

Demetri's smile was a little late. "The one with the most knowledge has the best capability of making sound decisions. And that someone is Aro, young Edward. Your mate is, pardon me, very young. She will learn wisdom as she ages. With us." His smile was far too innocent. "I would like to see her. It must be so frustrating to be unable to read her. I know that Aro has expressed his –"

 _Catch that?_ Jasper shot at me. _Second time._

I had. "Demetri. You are full of surprises this evening." I lurked at the edges of his mind as well as Felix's. "Tell me," I said, before their defenses rose too high for me to breach. "What is it you don't want me to know?"

These men were trained Volturi Guards, accustomed to surviving in a hostile, competitive environment. Images flooded my mind for only a second and a half.

Aro in a rage, raving about shielded minds. Not being able to read random nomads who wandered in or chosen lesser Guards. Whispers about distrust about Aro's stability. And a very unusual moment between Felix and a woman named Renata who had the label Shield in Felix's mind. Private conversation, nothing more. Demetri's mind held expressions. Two Guards who had left on errands and not returned the year before.

Then, both men's mind wiped clean like water over rock. For a moment.

 _Watch out!_ Jasper and Alice called to me in silent simultaneity.

In the next instant, Demetri and Felix pushed back from the table, crouched to fight. We all did likewise – even Esme.

A sense of heavy calm rolled over us with near-solid effectiveness. "Enough of that," Jasper muttered, keeping Alice behind him. "Let's make things easy on you," he suggested. Everyone was still crouched to fight, but our lines were less taut. "Edward and I will go with you back to Volterra. Willingly."

"As will I," Carlisle stated firmly in his Head of the Family voice. _Don't even consider denying me this, Edward._

Jasper and I exchanged a quick look and decided at the same time that this would work. "So there should be no problems. But first, we need to talk a little more. Tell me about Aro's sporadic gift."

"Tell us where the Shield is."

"She's not here."

In the end, after a hunt and scent-investigation (that included the linens on my bed and the drain of my shower, by all that walked the earth) they had only one condition. We had to leave our phones behind. After a brief flurry of negotiations, so did they.

The last thought I caught from Alice as the five of us climbed into the Volturi's rented sedan was from Alice. _Edward! Bella's calling! Don't flinch. I'm afraid to answer it. I'll keep it short though, so she doesn't worry._ I caught the patterned vibrations that meant Bella was reaching out to me from across the miles, the sea and from tomorrow.

My dead heart constricted in my chest and hoped that Alice would be able to reassure her. My lonely sniper on a deployment of her own devising. I was fairly certain I knew what her weapon was.

* * *

 **News: Check out the Scene Stealers Contest! It's new and I've been asked to judge. On FFn it's here: http : / / www. fanfiction. net /~ scenestealerscontest ...Just take out the spaces and you should have yourself a functioning url. Hope to see you there!**


	10. ENDGAME

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N: Yes, the chapter you've all been waiting for has arrived. Something to remember: for the purposes of this story and its predecessor, FROM THE WINGS, the Twilight Canon is only valid up until Edward leaves in New Moon. After that it's all AU so some details might be a bit different than you remember... See you down below! ~ LJ**

**A/N: Yes, the chapter you've all been waiting for has arrived. Something to remember: for the purposes of this story and its predecessor, FROM THE WINGS, the Twilight Canon is only valid up until Edward leaves in New Moon. After that it's all AU so some details might be a bit different than you remember... See you down below! ~ LJ**

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**

* * *

_Ipsa Scientia Potestas Est -_ Knowledge is Power - Francis Bacon, 1597, _Religious Meditations, Of Heresies_

 _  
**Chapter Ten - Endgame**   
_

_  
**Emmett - June, 2025**   
_

"Hey, Esme. I was trying to reach Carlisle but his phone's off or something?"

I heard Rosalie's worried voice and poked my head into the office. It was still unusual for me to see her in there. Rose had adopted Jasper's office here in the Fifth Avenue place. Jasper's space still smelled like him, looked like him and felt like him. Civil War memorabilia was carefully displayed on shelves and in mounted glass-fronted boxes. My golden Rose amidst paintings and weaponry and old documents just looked like a "One of these things just doesn't belong here" scene from a children's magazine. _I might have to remember that for my textbook..._

Technically, we were subletting this place from Jasper and Alice Whitlock, but really we took over everything while they were on Isle Esme. Alice had made me promise on threat of burning my hair that I'd make sure to steam clean all surfaces before their return.

They had no faith in me.

Rosalie sounded more worried than annoyed as she asked Esme, "What do you mean, he doesn't have it with him? Is he all right?"

My cell phone rang at that precise moment with a tune from the Disney movie, _Mary Poppins,_ "Just a Spoonful of Sugar." Alice.

"What's up, Pixie Girl?"

"Don't do it, Emmett. Just don't."

This was not the first time over the course of the decades in which we had been family that she had told me this. "Don't do it, Emmett," had been a much more common directive back in the seventies. I had been considering skateboarding with the then-new neoprene wheels, wanting to make a jump like the other guys at the school we had been attending. It was a physics demonstration for myself. "Don't do it, Emmett," Alice hissed at me, running almost full-on into the group of skaters I was hanging with at the time.

I didn't listen to her. I should have. We had to relocate and I bet the legend of how the street got that particular crater near the sewer has grown.

So I listened when she told me that morning. "All right. Don't do what, exactly?"

I heard her sigh at the same time I heard Rosalie shriek. "They went where? With whom?"

 **E &R E&R E&R**

I didn't think Alice would notice the patch in the wall in her design studio. She did not, for all her psychic ability, possess "x-ray vision." Bella and Edward had, back at the beginning of their relationship, when she was still human, attributed his supernatural abilities to being a superhero. An irradiated spider's bite would have made more sense than the unconventional reality of sparkly-skinned vampires, but we are not any breed of superhero. And, as far as I know, there has never been a vampire with Roentgen's applied little accident as a "special talent."

Though it'd be a fun one!

The patch on the wall was necessary after I heard what my idiot brothers and sire were doing. _Volterra_. They were going to Volterra to try to figure out what Little Sis was up to and help her out.

Without me! What the hell was that all about? And they were with _Felix_? The only vampire I've met who out-massed me? How did that happen? Alice said they left voluntarily, without violence or threats. The only stipulation on both sides was apparently secrecy, since they had to leave their phones behind.

What was Bella doing?

Okay. So she was communicating in Italian literary code. She had needed a cable strong enough to restrain a very big vampire. Two members of the Volturi Guard had shown up and somehow – probably due to Alice – Jasper knew to join them there. But why didn't they send for me?

A guy could get a complex.

So Bella's got a cable to hold back a vamp as big as I am. She's hell-bent on rescuing us all. And she and Edward are having issues. She was keeping him out of her head. Go, Little Sis!

I didn't have a clue as to what she was up to, and I did kind of lose my head and hit the wall. Rosalie was not amused. But it was patched now and Alice could get mad all she wanted, the wall looked fine. The next thing I wanted to do was go to Italy and take a stand with my brothers. But I didn't want to go alone.

"Rose?"

"No. Emmett, you can't. I can't. We can't do this. Someone has to be rational here. Jasper and Edward – even Bella, damn her – will be fine. Jasper's a full-on warrior, Edward can't be taken by surprise and Bella… She keeps anyone and everyone out of her space. She shields herself just fine. You need to stay here. With me," she concluded, hands on her hips.

I paced, my fingers clenching into fists. I was furious with my wife – something that didn't happen often because my Rosie generally acted for the good of the family and I totally understood her. "Rose," I bit out. "They're our family. They're in danger."

"What about me? What about, about Alice and Esme? If everything goes to hell in Volterra, they're going to be coming after us next. We need you."

My fury dissipated instantly, like sand through my fingers. "Damn it, Rose," I growled, moving instantly to be next to her, to surround her with my body and make a protective cage about her smaller form. Talking into her hair, I growled, "I would never abandon you. Never. You know that."

She nuzzled my chest. "I know. I just had to remind you." After a moment, she turned her fact up to me, her golden eyes calm. "We'll send for Alice and Esme, so we can be here in the middle of Manhattan. Populated as this place is, it's kind of hard to be too loud and to fight all Volturi-style." Her lips curved to tease me and I inhaled her scent, grounding myself. "They'll stay here, you'll protect us in case everything falls apart. We'll still be a family, Emmett." Her expression was entirely serious, now. "You know that's all I want. A family."

"I know, Rose. I know. And I'll make sure you have one." I really, really hoped there'd be more than four of us at the next Christmas party though.

Alice and Esme were with us in less than twenty hours. Alice never even noticed the patch on the wall, but she still made me wear a girl's skirt for half a day around the apartment as payback for not listening to her.

Eddie and the Jazz-man will never let me hear the end of it.

* * *

 _  
**Demetri POV - June, 2025**   
_

"So you really don't know what she's doing or where she is," I said to the Mindreader as we stood in the drizzle of the afternoon outside of Volterra. I needed to go in and report to Aro, but I felt that I had failed in my mission and neither Felix nor I were in any hurry to tell him that. Besides with his talents so unreliable lately, it was entirely likely that I'd get away with this act of so-called disobedience.

I didn't know what it was, exactly, but those Cullens were insidious. They really were. In talking with Carlisle, I felt almost as if my entire notion of right and wrong had been shifted. It was unsettling and frightening – but did I have to be frightened in truth? I had wished once, I remember, for Aro to find his powers to be unreliable and so they were proving. Perhaps I could just not report?

I had thought that my loyalty to The Three was precise and unchanging. I thought that Aro was the most powerful vampire that we knew of because he could command such knowledge. He had a secret on everyone. Knew all that they did and could invade with the merest brush of bare fingers on the back of a hand, and that knowledge brought obedience through threat and admiration. Until the last several months and even a little before that.

Could a vampire lose his talent? If so, Aro was hardly the vampire to fear. His awareness had been weakened, Felix though, as his dependence upon Renata the Body Shield grew.

How come I never found these things out? Well, I saw a _look_ in Felix's eyes as he told me, so I guessed that this had been information most _intimately_ gathered. When had that started?

Really, didn't we have a job to do?

Edward Cullen froze, his eyes closed and his nostrils distended. "No. I have no idea." His tone was implacable and I didn't understand it. They were a most unusual family, but they shouldn't be condemned for being unusual. Aro himself came closer to exposing us in recent months than the Cullens had in many years. What was Aro afraid of?

The talents that this coven possessed, of course. But if there was anyone least likely to bother Aro or threaten our way of life in any way, it was Carlisle and his coven. They even lived in the midst of mortals! Absurd! Astounding!

"C'mon, Edward. Let's do a recon," the Empath suggested. They were leaving us alone with Carlisle. I suppose this was in the way of demonstrating some degree of trust. I know that Felix and I were no longer hell-bent on getting these men to Volterra. Not just yet, anyway. Not until we were sure of what to do. "And you guys? Try to look human, okay?

The two of them took off at a human pace that amounted to a casual stroll. "What do they think to find?" I inquired of Carlisle. "I can't find her and I'm a Tracker. The best one the Volturi have ever seen."

The blond coven leader offered half a smile as he followed the walking pair with his eyes. "Nothing replaces the eye and the mind," he said. "It is possible, too, that she'll come out from under her shield if she sees either or both of them. If you were with them, there's no telling what she'd do." At my confused look, he elaborated with grim determination. "Demetri. She's been training herself to do the Lord only _knows_ what for several years now. All apparently with one goal in mind. She's been trained, essentially, by an empathic victor of the Southern Wars. She's learned all about your world from a... _variety_ of sources, and she's the mate of the most self-controlled and self-disciplined vampire you will meet in your entire existence. She's been brave enough to work alone in hostile territory without seeking assistance. I would say that nothing is beyond her in terms of what she will do to protect her mate and her family."

"Family?"

"Us," Carlisle snapped. "We are a family, as you have forgotten how to be. She knows this. She will do anything to protect it. As will we all."

Taken aback by his apparent passion, I attempted to divert him. "My good man, you surprise me."

He didn't take the bait, choosing merely to check his watch. Oh yes, we were supposed to be trying to look _human_. I watched the Cullens do so.

* * *

 _  
**Jasper POV**   
_

"Calm down, Brother. Your tension is going to rip the skin off my neck," I grumbled as Edward and I did a circuit tour outside the old brown stones of Volterra. At least I could feel this tension; it meant that, wherever she was, Bella wasn't shielding me. Damned good thing, too. I needed every gift at my disposal today.

There was a grinding rock sound that came from both under Edward's shoes and from his jaw. They were eerily similar as we got to the space nearest the tower where I had picked up the emotional burst just before the Tracker started on my trail the last time I was here. "How can I _possibly_ calm _down_? I haven't seen her in _months_ , Jasper." Anger arced briefly around him before he subdued it. It was followed by need, love, despair, and then, suddenly, a joy so overwhelming I almost fell over by the force of it. Still, I had the biggest stupid grin on my face when I saw a figure appear on the top of the wall about six yards in front of us. Suddenly, I could sense her and smell her and she was entirely present.

"Bella..."

Edward was gone from my side with unsurprising immediacy. The pale afternoon's diffuse light didn't catch on his skin and I could only hope that no one was out taking a stroll in the light rain to see the speed at which he went. I didn't think I could have held him back from going to his wife. I didn't think even _Felix_ could have done that. I turned to give the reunited couple some privacy, privately enjoying the emotional display that I didn't have to see to experience. From Bella, there was a lot of apology surrounding her and some of it I know she pushed to me because I felt it as I had the day in D.C. when she had done something very similar. From Edward, there was relief, worry and concern. But threading intricately in the tapestry of emotion the pair of them wove behind my back was _love_. Almost wiped out my ability, really. My whole body sort of relaxed in a hazy kind of cloud. Alice would have been amused as I leaned against the rough stone wall and kept my eyes focused on our surroundings. No, pretty much no foot traffic.

Curious, I extended my awareness up to the tower that loomed over us. Furtiveness lurked at a low level, but I picked it up. Distrust was thick in that place. So powerful that once I went feeling about, it was all but pulsing. Anger, too. Anger that had an old, old feel to it. Deep, cold. I shivered. I actually shivered to feel it. What could provoke such anger? Not hatred... Betrayal.

 _And we're walkin' right into that mess_ , I reflected, blowing out a breath. "Reunion's over, kids," I said quietly before turning around. To their credit, no piece of clothing was out of place. I couldn't have guaranteed that if it had been me and Alice, that's certain.

Taking a quick read on them, I couldn't help my own smile resurfacing. The two of them were almost identical in their emotional states. Bliss, peace love sliced through in sharp slabs with determination, worry, and something I always felt before a battle. It is the unique feeling of being resolved to do violence.

Then, I took another look at my sister. "Hey, Bella," I said, not offering an embrace because she'd been on her own for months and sometimes we were a weird species when it came to expressing affection. "Good to see you."

She snorted and one hand briefly indicated her clothing. Worn, faded and torn, it had seen better days. Her hair was braided and showed signs of needing a shower. It was dull with an accumulation of rain and air particulates. Her eyes were flat black, but I felt no urgent thirst and her eyes were not ringed with that tell-tale bruised appearance that indicated a need to hunt. "Yeah. I bet. You too. How's Alice?"

"She's forgiven you."

"Good. I'd hate to spend eternity on her bad side."

Edward pulled her next to him so closely she could have just Superglued herself to his ribs and never had to walk again. "Well, you can't spend any time with her until you've spent the next part of eternity with me. You owe me," he said, his voice stern. But humor and love washed around him tangibly for me so I guessed this was an inside joke.

Hell, I was just glad they could still make them, after what she'd put them through. Put us all through.

"So what're we doing, Little General?"

Clinging to Edward with one arm, she extended her hand to me. "I hadn't expected you. You're terrifying me, you know."

"No, I don't. You're not feeling that way at all, Little General."

She rolled her eyes. "I am." Slicing a glance up at Edward, she grimaced. "He wasn't supposed to be here."

"Well we're both here and that's not all. We've got company. And we're going to finish this thing so you can come home. Let's go. I am guessing Carlisle wants to give you a piece of his mind, too."

She bit her lip and her eyes took on a suspicious sheen before she buried her face against Edward's chest. He sighed, contentment wafting in nearly a perpetual wave. "Jasper," she whispered, "if you need to do the same, can we just wait until this is over? I'm so tired."

I pushed out a hint of comforting serenity to her and she thanked me, her voice still muffled by the fabric of Edward's wet jacket. "Let's go. Then you can fill me in and we can kick some ass." To Edward, I cocked a brow. _So? What's the deal? Did she tell you?_ He nodded. _Opened her mind, huh?_ He nodded again, his lips pressed tightly together as we took our time to return to the others. _Will it work?_ He looked quickly back at the tower where I had felt so much negativity and sent me an emotion of his own. Curiosity. His own brows rose into his forehead. _Did I feel something in there?_ His nod told me I was right so I continued, sharing with him what I had picked up before adding, _Did Bella have something to do with that?_

A mixture of pride, chagrin and fear leaked from him, as if he'd keep it from me but he was not nearly as good at hiding things as his wife. "Yes," he murmured as we rounded the final stretch of ancient wall. We were about to be visible to the Guards. "She's remarkable."

 _You'll get no argument from me on that,_ I told him silently with a burst of pride and affection for my little sister.

Shock, surprise, joy and curiosity pulsed at me and I realized we'd been spotted. " _Mia Bella_ ," Carlisle called in Italian, so as not to bring attention to ourselves. With long strides, he reached Bella and took both hands before kissing her cheeks in the European manner of humans. "We missed you so much."

"Hey, Dad," she said softly. "Me too." She peeked beyond his arm and, still between the sheltering bodies of her husband and father-in-law, saw Demetri and Felix. There was a sudden lack of anything coming from her and Edward and I understood immediately that she had slipped the two of them under her shield. "Hello. I've seen you looking for me."

Felix rolled his shoulders and emitted irritation and embarrassment in equal amounts. Demetri was just staring at her in wonder. "I never would have guessed you could do it. Hide from me for so long," he admitted, awe dancing around him. "Impressive."

"Come," Carlisle directed, stepping back and indicating that Bella should lead us. "Show us where we can converse in privacy, Bella."

Felix's tone was rife with derision. " _She_ should choose for us? Since when?"

Edward bristled visibly or I wouldn't have noticed him as he was still shielded. "Since she's been living here for months in hiding and you've not found her."

"She has her shield!" Demetri protested, albeit his emotions were not at all negative. I had the impression that he was saying it just for show.

"What, your eyes don't work?" Bella said after a moment's silence. "I saw you. And if I saw you, you could have found me with your own eyes. You've become too reliant on your gift. You are not the only one."

 **J &A J&A J&A**

It was dark but the full moon shone as we walked into the nest of the Volturi. That's what it felt like to me, a wasp nest, crowded with stinging emotions of distrust, violence, aggression, betrayal, woe and – as the knowledge of our presence filtered through the tiers of vampires between the main door and the room Felix had called The Chamber – curiosity.

Well yeah. And if they knew exactly who and what we were bringing with us, they'd be a hell of a lot more curious. The plan Bella had devised had been perfect. And she'd been safer than any of the rest of us would have been under the same circumstances while she carried it out. As if she had been turned to be in just this place and time.

I imagine that would go a long way to soothing any remaining ruffled feathers the family had. Carlisle was prepared to take them on, anyway.

Down a long, echoing hall we strode. I felt my spine stiffen, my jaw tightened and I was consciously flexing my fingers. It wasn't as if I needed to limber up, but my body retained what I have since learned is a certain amount of muscle memory and these pre-battle fidgets – that's really all they were to a vampire – were necessary for me. Carlisle was focused. His body radiated watchfulness and calm. Curiosity, too. The man was always surrounded by a hint of it, no matter what.

I've thought about it a lot over the years and what I concluded was that Carlisle had a gift. It's not one that anyone really noticed because that's kind of the point of it. Carlisle had a gift about knowing what to say and when to say it. And the reason it was largely subtle and a secret was because finding out about it would make everything he said instantly suspect and then the gift would be nullified.

If that were true, it was a powerful gift indeed.

Felix pushed open enormous wooden doors that were barred with iron. The place looked like a defunct Hollywood movie set. In the chamber, voices rose and fell with sharp alacrity. I felt Demetri's nerves spike and Carlisle's determination thicken as we moved as a group into the room.

And that anger, the ancient cold anger I felt outside, slithered across the floor to me, making its originator obvious. I followed the invisible emotional trail back to its source and met a face marked by a horrible impassivity that bespoke living with that dreadful emotion for centuries. The only emotive quality he had was anger, edged with a despair so dark it was almost visible. I remembered the face from the portrait Carlisle took with him everywhere. He was one of the three "brothers" of the Volturi triumvirate. But as the Roman's feeble attempts at creating triumvirates that had gone before, these three were no more equal sharers in power than, say, Octavian was with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus. He might have said he was part of a triumvirate, but Octavian became Augustus Caesar and eliminated his rivals. The Marcus before me now was surely aware of this.

 _Edward? Can you hear me?_ He didn't respond and I moved my arm to tap Bella lightly on the shoulder. Her shield was not operating physically at the moment, which was a good thing. My sister shot me a quick burst of curiosity. I cocked my head and tapped my temple while darting a look to Edward. I needed him to hear me right now. I felt her flare of panic before she bit her lip and nodded.

I understood. It would be like asking me to step out of reach from Alice at a moment like this. Still, I had to do so. I sent her a wafting of gratitude and returned my attention to Edward.

 _Can you hear me now?_ I said, infusing a bit of humor. He surely recollected the pervasive slogan from a cell phone company, decades ago. His nod was distracted but I felt a pulse of amusement from him, too. _Marcus. The impassive one. Find out why he's so angry. It's beyond bone-deep, Edward. We could use it._ I showed him what I perceived and he indicated with a flicker of his eye that he was taking in the situation.

We had had a plan, going in, but I felt that it needed some tinkering.

"Carlisle!"

The one in the middle that I recognized as Aro from Carlisle's painting stepped forward. His emotional state was in turmoil, anger, distrust, worry and still some triumph roiled around in a convoluted mess about his personal space. Coming to us with hands ominously outstretched, he halted awkwardly when none of us moved to take his hands. Dark hair hung about his head, his eyes glowed darkly burgundy as he evaluated the situation.

While he did so, I sent Edward my thoughts about how to best rid ourselves of this spindly excuse for a vampire.

* * *

 _  
**Edward POV**   
_

Carlisle spoke of the Divine and I had often, over the course of my existence, scoffed at the notion of God still heeding the plight of the vampire. That was until Bella restored my lost inner humanity, making me aware of blessings I had never known before she streaked across my awareness, a meteor in the darkest skies. Her acceptance of me, her love for me, her willingness to embrace my endless existence as her own humbled me and allowed me to believe that yes, God did have his eye on even the vampire. At least, those of us who were doing our best to preserve human life.

I had to be thankful for the way I was, there in the feeding tower at Volterra. Part of my mind was taking in all the frighteningly disjointed and rebellious thoughts of the vampires in the room. Another part was picking up Jasper's battle plan, based upon Bella's abilities and the havoc she had wrought by the applied use of her shield. Brain surgery, indeed. I saw his plan and hoped it would work as he envisioned. If nothing else, I was confident that we had surprise on our side and that would facilitate the rest.

In spite of the urgency of these matters, I was also able to dwell in the wonder of seeing my wife. My mate. My Bella. Seeing her on the top of the wall, catching her scent as she opened the shield that surrounded her, and then hearing her – hearing her! – in my mind had brought me joy beyond description. Years, it had been. So many years since she had opened herself so much to me.

 _Edward! Oh, Edward! What are you doing? When did you get here? I love you I love you I love you I love you. Oh no! No! Yes! Edwardedwardedward...My mate yes and forever and forever and Iloveyouloveyouloveyou..._

Her thoughts bombarded me, her love surrounded me, and her arms enfolded me as mine did her. While we reconnected through touches, her mind shifted. I could feel it. She had been strengthening her focus, certainly, and it was obvious in her next stream of conscious communication.

 _This is what I've been doing_ , she thought strongly. And I was overwhelmed with a massive amount of her research, thoughts and what she had spent years doing. Morse Code to Jasper, which I knew about. Books and descriptions of Volterra from Carlisle. The cable from Emmett to use as a physical restraint – _That turned out terrific, but I can't use it like I had hoped. I have it stowed away, so we'll get it before we go in._ – Spying on the members of the Volturi, figuring out how to use what she had as a weapon of sorts, though it was entirely defensive in nature.

She let me see it all. And then we shared her whole plan with Carlisle and Jasper and – after I had checked their minds and Jasper verified their emotions – we explained parts of it to Demetri and Felix.

"Aro!" my sire said, his voice smooth as always. I caught Jasper's thoughts on Carlisle's ability to handle different situations and had to tip an imaginary hat to my brother. It seemed very likely. Either that or Carlisle had honed skills for centuries in a way other vampires chose not to do. He looked past Aro to Caius and then Marcus. Caius had thoughts of somehow capturing my wife and holding her as hostage in order to help him overthrow his brother. His brother whom he now perceived as weak and unstable since his ability to read minds had started fading in and out. To Caius, Aro should be incinerated and Marcus put out of his all-too-obvious misery.

Aro, a small woman Demetri had warned us about named Renata who served as Aro's personal bodyguard as she was a shield as well, claimed Carlisle's hand, his manner desperate, I thought. I could not get into his mind, but I knew that would be the case, so I didn't try. With a roar, Aro pushed at Carlisle and lunged for Bella.

"No!"

The denial came from my throat just as surely as it erupted from the throats of all those who had come in with us. Renata, as if prepared for just such a contingency, leapt away from Aro just as Felix flashed behind him. Using his superior physicality, the enormous man got Aro in a clinch that was one breath shy of ripping his arms and/or torso off at the least provocation.

 _Nice one!_ Jasper thought. I concurred while holding Bella fast behind me. A reflex action; she was surely the best-protected one of us all.

"Enough!" Caius roared. "What are you doing?" he demanded of us.

After a brief pause, Demetri spoke. "There are some injustices that have to be settled. First of these, I believe, is that the Cullens are a harmless coven of animal-drinkers. They should be allowed to live as and where they will."

Aro sputtered but a bit of pressure from Felix silenced him. "That is not the only injustice," my brother began. "A great wrong has been done to Marcus." _Ask him what it is, Edward. Ask Aro the question!_

I knew exactly what to ask. "Aro. What information are you hiding from your brother Marcus? Information that would fill him with rage if he knew it?"

Bella released her shield as I began the question and I was able to see – as it had been with Felix and Demetri in Michigan – what it was that the Volturi leader had been hiding for longer than this nation had been extant. I was appalled.

 _What is it?_ The family all shouted the question silently, the words strangely in sync.

"Aro had Marcus' mate, Didyme, killed," I stated softly, an upwelling of enormous sorrow rising from my middle for the silent vampire. I had left Bella – my mate – once for a span of months. She had left me for the same, but we had been able to be in touch. Not enough, but at least we possessed the knowledge that the other was alive. Marcus had been without his love, his mate, for a millennium.

"No! I did not! It was Caius!" Aro shouted in a bid at self-preservation.

The chaos that followed was only to be tracked by vampiric eyes. I didn't know if any of the family were trying to communicate with me because Bella surrounded both of us with her shield while several pairs and trios of vampires engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

 _I trust that Felix and Demetri are safe enough. Carlisle as well, and Jasper can take care of himself anywhere._

"And I'm helpless?" I wondered, feeling slightly emasculated as I saw two members shout for the deaths of a Jane and an Alec.

Several wide-eyed men, dressed in trousers and shirts, surrounded two more diminutive vampires. The pair looked like they were related, but I only deduced that by the heads that rolled in our direction, kicked away by their attackers. Another vampire pulled back a tapestry to reveal a large hearth in which they started a blaze. With blurring speeds, certain members of the Guard were chosen for this violent execution and their torsos and limbs were consigned to the fire.

 _You're my mate and I'll do whatever I have to to keep you safe!_ Her thoughts were adamant as another head was added to the growing collection. The faces appeared to be soundlessly screaming. Bella grimaced but did not look away.

"Felix! Get him, Salvador!"

Felix, his arms still around Aro, spun so that Aro's legs whirled as if they were dance partners. Just as a lean, angry vampire – Salvador, I imagined – was ready to stretch for Felix's head he was deflected. Deflected away by the small, auburn-haired woman called Renata, who had been Aro's shield. I could see, as she took a spot where she could touch Felix, that she was reassigning herself. Aro looked on, as helpless as a ragdoll in a catfight.

I wanted to protect my family from any future such attacks. Salvador was trying to get around Jasper, now. "I want to help!"

 _Why? It's over._

And it was. As abruptly as it started, the room was still. "Let me hear," I demanded of my wife.

"Of course." And I was immediately bombarded with amazed thoughts.

 _They're gone. Aro's still captive. Damn mindreader, what's taking Felix so long? Didn't take Renata long, did it? Oh, the stench! What about the heads?_

Demetri, who had been primarily an observer during what was apparently a violent coup of the Volturi, stepped forward into the middle of the room and opened his mouth.

He wasn't allowed to speak. Marcus did.

I saw the thoughts in his mind and he knew it, which didn't surprise me. He had lived with a murdering reader of minds for far too long. _Heed me, young Edward. Learn and grow wise while you may._ "My brother has wronged me." His voice. rarely used, rasped with a strange power around the room. "He murdered my wife and yet bound me to him through Chelsea. Of course I knew," he said, shooting a disgusted look back at Aro. "I, who see the strength of relationships, one person with another, know when one has been falsely forged and strengthened. Did you think I did not?"

Aro had long since given up struggling against Felix. "I didn't wish to lose you to the flames," he said. "I wanted you to stay with me."

"Of course you did. You wanted my gift. Like you wanted the gifts of all these others."

"Marcus I am sorry..." A woman slipped away from the wall, her whole demeanor defeated. "I thought it was the right thing to do. He made it sound right. To keep you with us."

"Millennia, Chelsea..."

 _She's really remorseful. She's also panicked, like she wants to escape, Edward. Keep an eye on her. She's stronger than she looks. She's the one who took Caius' head off._

"Noted," I murmured.

"I know. I'll leave. I'll go far away and you'll never see me again."

 _I won't. I will ask Carlisle or one of his coven to end my miserable existence. Yes, boy. I know you heard me. Silence for now._ When he sought my gaze, I nodded once. "That remains to be seen. All I want is revenge." He turned to Felix, ignoring Aro entirely. "He is mine to destroy."

Felix nodded. "Of course, Lord Marcus. I'll hold on to him for you –"

The room grew heavily silent. The minds of all present were focused solely on the slow – agonizingly slow for our kind – approach of Marcus to his brother. Heavy robes fell from Marcus' arms to reveal the ancient arms, the long thin fingers that twitched as they reached, reached...

"Wait."

The jerk in the room was almost audible as everyone's eyes shifted to my wife. I had to shake my own head to see her with my own eyes and only my own eyes. "What?" Marcus whispered. I heard him continue silently. _Silence, child. I suppose I have you to thank but silence._

I arrowed a quick glance at him. "Marcus? I believe she's earned the right."

"Very well."

"Aro." Bella tried to step away from me but I grasped her hand in mine to prevent it. She eyed me with half a smile lingering in too-dark eyes. "Haven't I earned the right, Edward?"

I went with her to stand next to Marcus in front of Aro. The chamber's remaining inhabitants drifted closer. Demetri made himself busy by directing one of the "audience" to toss them into the fire at last.

"Aro," Bella said again. "Before you're removed from this existence, I think it's only fair for you to know what happened."

"You...?" Incredulity spilled forth as he swore, helpless in Felix's tireless grip. "You're a child! An infant!"

My wife smirked. Visibly. "Let me show you," she offered, her voice low and calm as she extended her free hand.

He eyed it with distaste and sorrow. "Why bother?" he spat. "I can't –"

"Yes, you can."

"What?" The gasp came from everyone in the room, save those of us who had walked in with her. Carlisle's expression was smug, Jasper was chanting, _You go, girl!_ in his head, with amusement and pride pulsing almost visibly from him.

It was almost as strong a feeling as mine.

"I've been shielding –"

"Yes, I know. You've been hiding, wherever you've been hiding. A rat-hole, by the looks of you. And you're one of Carlisle's so you've probably eaten the rats, eh?" Aro's venom spluttered, here at the end of his proverbial rope.

 _Uncalled for!_ Carlisle shouted mentally. He remained silent, however, as Bella continued, unfazed.

"I've been shielding you," she informed Aro. "Let me show you."

With a cool economy of movement, she slipped her left hand to Aro's right cheek and he gasped as the images poured into his mind and mine. She invited me in, too.

 _Knowledge is power, Bacon said. I took away your knowledge. I gained my own._

Jasper's knowledgeable lessons on military strategy and the importance of intelligence. The accomplishment of a successful political coup. The ways battles have been fought and won. Carlisle's knowledge of vampires and the Volturi. The layout and diagrams of Volterra. The talks in the woods during hunts that detailed the power structure and length of time different people had been with the Volturi. Even Emmett's knowledge of physics and the flexibility of our own flesh, so she could anchor herself when she grew too weak to focus and maintain her balance. The cable had come in handy after all, never weakening though she did, herself. My own knowledge of how the mind worked and how Aro's mindreading worked. The vampire brain fitting into the human mind's confines. Diagrams, images, layering themselves as Bella chose how to shield Aro's mind in such a way as prevented him from transmitting information from his skin to his knowledge centers.

 _It took years to learn how, months to perfect this. I've been watching you. I've been watching them all learn to doubt and distrust. I gave them time to fester, like a wound. I learned about those, too, from Carlisle. And then I studied and learned what they used to know about you._

 _You have no idea how often you exposed our kind, do you?_

Literary examples flew through her mind. Vampires and political terrors. Horrible images that she had read about in one way and another.

 _You deserve to be ended, under your own precious Law. And now, it will happen. I just wanted you to go to Hell with full knowledge. It's the only thing I could give you._

Aro was, by this time, fully bug-eyed with shock.

"You could be a queen," he whispered aloud.

She withdrew her hand and stepped into my side as her shield lifted. I felt a slight tremor race up and down her spine. My brave girl. "No. I only want my Edward and I to be safe. I want my family to be able to live as they want, where they want. No one has the right to dictate to us on matters such as these."

Marcus had no idea what had just transpired, but he only smiled a little at my wife before eyeing Aro and saying, "I will follow soon. Hide from me." Without an emotion on his face, he grasped Aro's head and wrenched it right off his shoulders. The screeching of rending metal was shocking as the only sound in the vampire-still room.

"Aro..." It was almost a breath shaped into a random sound, but I heard the thoughts.

 _Freedom. I feel that floating around everywhere, Edward,_ Jasper informed me joyfully. _I wonder how many will stay here now?_

"I don't know."

Bella turned to Marcus, her body sagging now as relief washed over her. She had shared her tension with me earlier, the months-and-years tautness of mental discipline that I had taught her. My greatest knowledge I could impart was the understanding of self-discipline.

 _You showed me we can fight our own basic nature, my Edward. You taught me that for love, we are capable of resisting bone-deep temptations. How could I do less to protect my love for you? For our family? I am so sorry for every moment you have been hurt by me over the past several years. I_ will _make it up to you. I promise._

And she had kissed me, there outside the walls of Volterra while Jasper considerately kept his eyes averted.

"Marcus?" she asked quietly now, as the sole remaining member of The Three stood, holding Aro's head in his hands while Felix took the body to the still-burning fire.

"Yes, child?" He sounded so tired.

"I want to go home, now."

Marcus did something I did not expect until I heard it. He laughed. A long laugh that was sincere in his mind. _Oh...dear child to even pretend she needs permission_. "Go, go little one. Take your coven. I can assure you no one will dare interfere with the Cullen Coven again." He directed his eyes to Jasper and his laughter faded. The request formed in his mind before it issued from his mouth. _Do not fail me, Mindreader. Do not interfere in my choice of existence, either_. "Empath."

"Jasper, sir," my brother said, respect in his tone and delineating every line of his posture.

"Let _me_ go home," Marcus said gently, standing straight with Aro's head still in his hands. A macabre picture, but I had not suffered as Marcus had and let him do this his way.

Jasper blinked. "Me, sir?"

"Surely a survivor such as yourself has learned how to dispatch a vampire," Marcus said with a sly lilt to his voice. He was rather enjoying this. I couldn't fault him. He must have dreamed of something like this for centuries beyond count.

"I have, sir. If you want me to." He looked around. "You heard that, right? He's choosing this."

"He lost his mate. Yes, of course. Go ahead. No retaliation." The assurances were softly spoken out of respect for Marcus. It was done without ceremony, and never had a vampire looked more relieved to have the burden of existence ended.

As soon as she saw Aro's head burnt to ash, my Bella collapsed in my arms. Her one-woman struggle for our family's autonomy against the might of the Volturi was over.

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A/N: Yes, of course there's an epilogue... Bella has, as is her custom, something to add.


	11. Epilogue 2026

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N: Summing up: Bella used her shield to keep Aro's gift from working. The resultant confusion and distrust were leading to a coup _before_ Edward discovered Aro had had Marcus' mate murdered a thousand years ago. Marcus killed Aro in revenge. Caius was destroyed by Chelsea. Jane and Alec were beheaded and burnt as well. Bella, her energy gone due to the constant strain of the past several months and years, collapsed in Edward's arms at the end of chapter ten. **

**A/N: Summing up: Bella used her shield to keep Aro's gift from working. The resultant confusion and distrust were leading to a coup _before_ Edward discovered Aro had had Marcus' mate murdered a thousand years ago. Marcus killed Aro in revenge. Caius was destroyed by Chelsea. Jane and Alec were beheaded and burnt as well. Bella, her energy gone due to the constant strain of the past several months and years, collapsed in Edward's arms at the end of chapter ten. **

**Fast forward to the following year...**

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**EPILOGUE - 2026**   
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**Bella POV**   
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Edward's shout echoed throughout the rooms and corridors in our home under acres and acres of Montana. I had to smile in feminine accomplishment as I rolled from his body to the floor of the office. "So, is this _all_ the rooms, now?" I asked, breathing deeply to swallow in the scent of him that wafted in the air above us. "Have I made it up to you yet?"

He grinned. "Well, we have christened each of _our_ rooms..."

"You can't mean to –"

His laugh was rich with confidence as he tugged me back to rest upon his body. "Why not? They'd do it."

I nuzzled him. "Sometimes, you are such a seventeen-year-old." I loved that, too. Loved to see the guy he was when he could relax. "I like it. It's so _human_."

"Well, without hearing anyone except you – when you let me in – and having no classes or anything just now, I feel like we're on an extended summer vacation."

It had felt that way for about a year, ever since we returned from Italy. Edward and Esme had already worked up some basic designs for a new living compound and it was a matter of plowing some heavy Cullen money into the project for speed of permits and building. With solar energy collectors on the surface, as well as wind turbines, we did pretty well in the energy department. We had wells, too, for water for cleaning. It was really a nice arrangement, resource-wise.

"Well," I told my husband, "I really don't want to annoy Emmett and Rose..." They were still trying to forgive me, I knew. Rose was still fuming over how I had apparently endangered the entire family. I didn't agree with her assessment, but I understood how she arrived at it. She was mostly mad at how I was in cahoots with Emmett and made him keep secrets from her. But she couldn't exactly say so, so she went with the "purposeful endangerment" angle.

Honestly, so long as my Edward forgave me – and he had – I was content.

We rose and cleaned up. I loved being a vampire – it took us no time at all do go through the mechanics of cleaning house. We were still putting the finishing touches on the main gathering place. It was centrally located above ground. Our compound was largely subterranean, with interconnecting passageways. Jasper had asked for a video tour to be sent to them as soon as we were ready to do so and today was going to be that day.

"I'll be behind the camera," I told my mate. "You do the audio. It was your design."

I set up the small digital webcam-connect, linked it with the internet router and checked the light settings while he telephoned the family in Volterra.

"Edward! So good to hear from you," Esme said when she answered. "We were hoping you would call."

Edward's eyes met mine over the electronic gadgets we held in our hand. "Oh? Is everyone all right, Esme?"

"Well, yes. It'd be easier if we could conference though. Is Bella around?"

"Here, Mom," I said, pressing the buttons and slides that would signal the camera to disconnect. "I'll set up the computer. Say, five minutes?"

It took fifteen. Edward and I were eventually situated in front of a camera and looking at a split screen that held the other six members of our family.

"Hey, Little Sis," Emmett said from New York. "How's the Mole life?"

"Just great," I countered, ignoring his umpteenth reference to our underground abode. "Just you wait 'til you join us, Brother Bear."

Jasper and Alice, in Volterra with Carlisle and Esme, sighed wistfully. "Wish we could be there already," Alice said.

Edward slid his hand over mine. "So do we. So, Carlisle," he went on, shifting gears after we all greeted one another. "What's the latest? Is there a problem?"

"It's taken a while, but I think we're stable here for the time being."

"Stable being a relative term, you understand," Jasper snapped, frowning. "I really miss that brain of yours, Bella. Vampires coming down off a political coup are the most volatile folk."

"Sorry," I said. Again. "You know I'd help if I could."

"I know."

The Cullens had all been willing to stay to help the transition in Volterra after the death of The Three, but those who remained in the ancient stone tower refused to ever allow a mind-reader among them again. Especially not one as powerful as Edward, who could slip into their thoughts without their knowledge, whose range extended for at least a mile, depending upon how well he knew the person he was reading.

And I could never be without my mate again. It had taken me several weeks to regain my health and stamina after our prolonged separation.

"So what's keeping you now?" Rosalie inquired. "Don't get me wrong, I love Fifth Avenue and how easy it is to get to people from New York, but I miss you." She met my eyes through the digital wizardry of the webcam. "All of you."

"They want us to stay," Carlisle said quietly. I was unsurprised and, from the looks on everyone else's faces, that was true of us all. "To establish a new form of governance."

"I thought you were working on that?" Edward asked. Leaning forward a little, he went on. "Weren't Felix and Demetri agreeable to easing the transition?"

"Demetri had to leave," Esme blurted.

After an irritated exchange of glances with Carlisle, and catching wary yet resigned looks from Alice and Jasper, I rolled my hand in the universal _Go on_ motion. "Where?"

"Tracking," Esme continued as Carlisle caught Edward's eye though they were separated by thousands of miles. "There's been...a rumor."

"If we spent time chasing every like rumor, we'd be scattered to the ends of the Earth," Carlisle murmured.

"What about Felix?"

"He and Renata went with Demetri."

Alice plunged her fingers into her hair in a gesture so akin to Edward's that I had to smile at it. "The problem is they've gone to Egypt. To Cairo and then into a desert place that I can't identify. I can't really see the ones who left, because they did before I got here? I mean, I think it's them and I've drawn a picture and Demetri and Felix confirmed it for me, but I am only getting bits and pieces."

"Did you try using the satellite maps, Alice? To get a visual of what you might have seen?" Edward's suggestion seemed entirely rational but it was clear that our sister had not done so.

"No! Edward, you're brilliant! Okay! Yeah, I'll go do that and report back."

"Tell them the rest, hon," Jasper advised, his arm going around her shoulder. He didn't sound particularly happy about what she would have to say.

"Oh, yeah. They went to see another vampire. He's old. Older than Carlisle, even."

"Who is it?" Carlisle himself asked, looking confused.

"I only found out before this whole thing, sorry." Alice's elfin features crinkled in concern. "His name is Amun, and he has others with him. They haven't decided anything, but I have seen an earthquake, guys. A big one. And one of the other vampires is smiling about it."

Carlisle sat back from the camera pick-up on his unit. "Amun? I know him. He never liked Aro. The feeling, by the way, was mutual."

"What does this mean to us?" I wondered. "I mean, does it matter that some disaffected former members of the Volturi have gone to him?"

Jasper nodded. "Didn't you learn anything from me, Mizz Bella? A responsible military leader gathers intelligence before moving in on a new territory. Ring a bell?" He was teasing, but he was also in deadly earnest.

 _Edward? This is a problem_.

He pressed a kiss to my temple. "Clearly. All right, can you get back here before –"

Jasper chuckled darkly. "Before the fecal matter hits that damn air propellant device?"

Edward's smile was also dark. "Yes, that. Do they know where we are? Are we being tapped? We need to get you safe." He cocked his head at the camera. "Alice?"

"They won't want us to leave."

Carlisle sat quietly while Alice, Edward and Jasper tossed ideas around, with occasional remarks from Emmett, who was looking more unsettled as the minutes passed.

Finally, he seemed to burst. "Get your asses back to America. Who gives a damn about what they want? We need to get our family together and talk about this." His lips straightened in a stern manner. "And you, Isabella, keep yourself in one place, huh? No running off to Egypt or Italy or anything."

"I'm not going anywhere!" I was so tired of hearing that admonishment. "I promised."

"And I'm holding her to it. So come home," Edward encouraged the rest of the family. "Maybe if we're together, we can figure out if this is something that needs to even concern us."

Arrangements were made for a general family reunion within the month and we all closed our separate connections. Edward pulled me away from the computer, his beautiful features clear. "I love being alone with you, but I kind of miss the family, too."

Though tension surrounded us both, I leaned into him with a smile and opened my mind to him. _So do I. But we have some time to finish what we started before all of this._

He sighed contentedly, his hands already moving restlessly over me. "Then let's get to it."

In the way of our kind, we were able to put away the worries about that Amun character, earthquakes and intelligence-gathering vampires and just enjoy one another. I didn't have Alice's gift of precognition, but I had a gift of my own and I would do my best to keep my family safe. No matter what.

"I know that look," Edward murmured to me much later. "Remember your promise."

His eyes were dark and serious. So were mine, I was sure. _Never again. I'll never leave you again. I promise._

 **The End**

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_A/N: Thank you so much for following me on this mystery story! I hope to see you for the third story in this impromptu trilogy: Lights Up. Add me as a favorite author or add this story to your alerts to be notified when Lights Up goes live._   
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**A reminder about the ANONYMOUS contest I'm judging: SCENE STEALERS CONTEST. See info and a link on my profile page. Banners for the winners!**   
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**Thanks again for reading! ~ LJ**   
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